The Sorcerer's Scions
by DragonShadow
Summary: After three years, the first Samurai Jack fanseries on FF.Net has come to an end. The time has come to face Aku, but there are a few unpleasant surprises to deal with.
1. A New Mission

Part 1: A New Mission  
  
  
  
The robed samurai warrior walked along his path, never breaking and never giving up... but still his heart grew heavier with every step he took, with every moment he remained stranded here. How could he have not found a way by now, it almost seemed as if there was no way on Earth to go back through time again. If there was no way, why was he still fighting? He would not be able to avenge his father and undo all of this evil that has been wrought upon so many through the sorcerer's influence. It would be hopeless...  
  
He shook his head to clear those thoughts away, combating them with the knowledge that even if he could not return through time, he could defeat Aku here in this time. It would not undo the evil, and it would not bring back the lives lost to the sorcerer's dark powers, but it would allow those who live here to begin rebuilding their shattered lives. He could still make this world a better place, it would just take more time.  
  
The irony of that thought struck him instantly and he gave a small chuckle at his own imagination. He stopped chuckling though and even stopped walking when he saw a tall building over the hill just ahead of him. He hadn't seen any signs of settlement in the last week, let alone something so grand as one of the cities he knew to be scattered about. He walked toward it cautiously with one hand always on the hilt of his sword.  
  
It was a large, bustling city with buildings that reached up into the sky at every turn. He had been in one before, and as not so shocked now, but still he marveled at the incredibly large buildings that flanked him. He remembered before going to a place called a bar for information, and he'd found enough to discover when he was. Perhaps if he was careful and a little lucky, he could repeat that here.  
  
He walked up to one of the buildings with a sign over it that read 'Playful Kitten' and pushed his way through the double doors. The noise blasted his ears after the grim silence of the wild forests, but again he was not so overwhelmed as before. People were scattered all over the place, sitting at table or dancing with partners on what looked like a dance floor near the back. Jack made his way over to the bar counter and sat down.  
  
"What do you want?" the bartender asked in a gruff tone of voice. Before the warrior could adequately reply a feminine voice spoke from beside him.  
  
"Wine, the strongest you've got." The bartender nodded and headed off to fix the drink while she sat on the stool right beside him, staring at him intently. She was obviously not human. Her ears almost appeared to be webbed and her eyes slanted sharply inward, with light blue where there should have been white. Her skin was pale white and looked slick to the point of being slimy, while her green hair hung across her back in a perfect line.  
  
"I do not drink wine." Jack informed her calmly.  
  
"Just shut up and listen, I have something to tell you." What gentleness her voice held before was gone now. "You're the warrior everyone's looking for aren't you, the one even Aku wants dead."  
  
"Indeed I am." Jack replied. "When I find a way back home I will defeat him and undo all of this evil."  
  
"Look, there is no way back home... but I know a way you can destroy Aku in THIS time." She told him steadily. He stared back at her in silence while the bartender brought his drink. He paid it no mind however, all of his attention focused on this woman.  
  
"How?" Jack asked once the bartender was out of earshot.  
  
"Follow my lead." The woman reached into her pants and took out a few similar objects. She waved them at the bartender. "Hey, room for two alright?" The bartender smirked and took the money, handing her a key with a sly glance at the samurai.  
  
"I didn't think you were the type." He shook his head and went back to his other customers. Jack stared after him in confusion until the alien finally pulled him into the back, shutting the room door behind them so that they were alone.  
  
"Come look at this." The woman was all business as she walked over to the table and spread what looked like a map of the stars. Jack walked over and looked at it over her shoulder. "Now pay attention because I'll only explain this once. Aku has had a lot of time to build his powers beyond even what you faced before. Still, after he conquered this world he opened his star-ports to others hoping to take their resources as well."  
  
"I know this, but I don't see what this has to do with me." Jack said.  
  
She stared at him as she spoke. "The alien races didn't just flood in on their own, he needed emissaries to travel the stars for him and open trade agreements, most often ending with him taking control of the entire species, as with my people. So he used his excess powers and created four scions. The Scion of Sorcery, the Scion of Sight, the Scion of Strength, and the Scion of Sin. They traveled the galaxy and still do... divided they're vulnerable. You can defeat them."  
  
"So Aku is even more powerful now than he was those years ago, all the more reason I must return to my own time and destroy him before he can become this strong."  
  
"Don't you get it!?" The woman said angrily. "There is no way back to your time! You have to defeat the scions and then Aku here and now!" She told him. Jack stared at her for a long time, weighing her words wisdom with what he knew for certain. It was true he had found no way back on Earth... but perhaps the way back wasn't on Earth. He could do as she asked and still search for ways home on other worlds.  
  
"Okay I am listening, why must I defeat the scions first?" Jack asked. The woman nodded when she realized he was now open to it.  
  
"Because if you attack Aku now he could dispel the scions and draw their power back, swamping you. Attack the scions and eliminate them one at a time, and the powers they hold will be gone forever. Aku can dispel them, but they cannot push themselves back into him or call for backup without normal means of communication. Take them all out and Aku will be vulnerable as he was all those centuries ago."  
  
"My quest would be far easier without him here, and his evil would no longer hold so many captive to it..." The samurai mused over his choices for a little while. What did he have to lose really, he was as likely to find a time machine on another planet as he was here. "Very well, I shall go to these other worlds and destroy the scions."  
  
The woman grinned and stood up straighter, holding the map in her hands. "I knew I could trust you warrior, your reputation far precedes you." She folded up the map and smiled at him. "Come on, I have a ship, I can take you to the world where the first scion is staying." She turned to head toward the door.  
  
"Wait... what is your name if we're to travel together?" Jack asked.  
  
"Keela." She told him without turning around. She opened the door and stood to the side, looking at him. "Come on, we should move quickly before bounty hunters track you here." Jack wasn't sure how much he could trust her, but he had no reason to believe she would betray him. So he left the room with her, heading toward the ship hangar.  
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Jack walked among the fleet of space ships with a look of absolute awe on his face. The sheer size of some of them was overwhelming with more small ones flanking them on every side. Various aliens and some human people worked on the ships, fiddling with plates and wiring. He stopped at one ship to watch as its pilot adjusted a strange device the likes of which the samurai had never seen before.  
  
He approached the figure at he cursed to himself and tried to fit two wires together. He looked down at Jack when he finally realized he was there. "What the bloody hell d'you want?" He asked. He was a shorter man reaching up to about the samurai's chest, with a dark tan covering his entire body. His eyes were dark brown and his hair was a musty red, in stark contrast with the rest of him.  
  
"I apologize, I was merely curious. I nave never seen anything like this before." The samurai reached one hand forward to run it over the metal plating on the side of the machine. The worker grinned proudly and sat up.  
  
"Aye, no other like it in the galaxy. M'friend designed and built it with his own two hands. Anywhere in the universe in 1.5 seconds." He stood up and leaned against the machine, patting it as if it was his child.  
  
"How does it work?" Jack asked curiously.  
  
"That's the secret to its speed, it bends time." The man grinned at Jack's blank expression. "The Aurora-Engine creates a field o'condensed time around the ship, coating it so that it exists outside as it moves across the galaxy. When it reaches its destination it uses the pilots time signature t'fade back into being 1.5 seconds after it left."  
  
"It can go through time... can it go back through time?" Jack asked more determined now.  
  
"Puh, only if you happen t'have a man from the past with you." The pilot smirked and snorted at that idea. The warrior just stared at him seriously however, halting him.  
  
"Hey Jack, let's get going, shall we? The ship's ready." Keela walked up beside him and stared at the other pilot with distrust in her eyes.  
  
"I may have a better idea... will you allow me to use your ship to go back to my own time?" Jack asked the pilot.  
  
"Use m'ship? For no reason? You must b'joking." The pilot scoffed at the idea, smirking. "Why would I let you take m'ship for no reason?"  
  
"I am Jack, if I can get back to my own time I will be able to defeat Aku before he could spread his evil through the world. If your ship can take me there, then everything will be much better here in this time. History will be altered into something better. Now, will you help me?" He knew his story was unbelievable, but his serious manner and gaze made the pilot think twice before turning him away.  
  
"Come on Jack, he won't help us, let's just focus on taking Aku down in THIS time." Keela tugged at his arm, but the samurai didn't move an inch. He stared at the pilot steadily until finally he responded.  
  
"Alright, I'll take you for a ride, couldn't hurt nothing, but b'warned, if you make any attempt t'take m'ship, I will kill you without a thought." He told the warrior steadily.  
  
"I accept your terms, I give you my word of honor I will not try to take your ship." Jack replied.  
  
"Jack come on, this is a waste of time, we should get going not meander with fools." Keela glared at the pilot, but he gave no notice.  
  
"M'name is Reggoth, this here is the Betron-4, come on board and I'll show you back to wherever you came from." Finally he turned and smirked at Keela. "But from what I've heard, the broad can stay here."  
  
"Get lost!" Keela shot back, but Jack grabbed her arm sternly.  
  
"There is no need to worry, once I return to my time everything will be better for everyone." He smiled at her reassuringly, though she still looked more nervous than accepting. "You'll be happier in the new timeline than in this one with Aku in it."  
  
"Well it'll still take me a few hours t'finish reconfiguring the time-dilation matrix, why don't you take the girl out for a few drink t'calm her down?" Reggoth winked slyly and chuckled. Jack looked over at her, noting the blatantly distressed expression on her face. He'd just met her, but still he didn't want to hurt anybody.  
  
"Thank you, I will return in a little while." Jack turned toward Keela and put one hand on her shoulder. "Come, we should talk." He led her away from the shipyards. He noticed her eyes staying on a ship across the yard, one he figured was probably hers.  
  
"I don't trust that guy, you should forget the whole thing. I can take you to the scions, and then you can take down Aku in this time." She told him again angrily, as though she was trying to pound her way into his brain.  
  
"I do not see why it's not better to destroy Aku in the past, before the scions were created." He replied.  
  
"Because... oh forget it! I don't need to explain myself to you! We WILL take out the scions and defeat him here and now... you'll see." With that Keela stomped away from him without another word, leaving him staring after her in confusion. He would have thought she'd be happy to have Aku never take over if she hated him so much. Something seemed amiss... perhaps she was a minion of Aku... well soon he'd be back in his own time and it wouldn't matter anyway.  
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"All systems operational." Reggoth said as he tapped the control panel in front of him. He was in the co-pilots seat since the engine used the time signature from the pilot to determine the point of re-entry. If everything was as they thought, they would appear 1.5 seconds after the samurai warrior had left his time, with plenty of time to find Aku and finish what he'd started.  
  
"This is very strange..." Jack commented as he watched the hangar doors open above them. It was night now, and only the stars showed through the blackness of space. It was an odd thought that they would soon be up among them, he'd always just looked at them from the Earth.  
  
He held onto the seat with white knuckles as the engines fired, sending vibrations throughout the length of the ship. His teeth ground together nervously, but apparently it was normal because Reggoth didn't seem nervous at all as the ship began to move. Jack tried to calm himself down, but all he could picture was the ship plunging into the ground at insane speeds.  
  
The noise was deafening as the ship ascended into the dark sky, the boosters carrying them closer to the stars, though they still looked as far away as ever. A small blip on the green circle in front of him caught his attention in a moment, along with the attention of the real pilot.  
  
"Looks like your girlfriend decided t'join us." Reggoth smirked and looked up at the front window again. "She can't follow anyway, don't worry about her." Jack watched the screen for another moment, noticing a smaller blip coming from the larger one.  
  
"What is that?" Jack asked curiously. Reggoth looked down at it, his eyes going wide when he saw it.  
  
"Bloody bitch is firing at us!" He exclaimed just before something slammed into the side of the ship, sending a shockwave through it. The pilot tapped the panel in front of him quickly. "What the hell d'you think you're doing!?" There was no response, only another blip on the screen in front of them. "Hold on Jack." Deggoth said as he yanked on the stick.  
  
The ship whirled in time to avoid the next blast, coming around so that Keela's ship was in view. Reggoth fired his own blast, but the Aurora-Engine obviously made the ship incredibly bulky and it wasn't nearly as maneuverable as Keela's fighter. She dodged the blast and fired a few more blasts, plunging several holed in the hull of the ship, including the engine section.  
  
"Warning, Aurora-Engine damaged, temporal explosion imminent." Reggoth stared at the panel in shock and anger just as the screen in front of them showed Keela's face.  
  
"You'd better get back to Earth before your ship takes you with it. I'll take you back myself." She told them. A hook fired from her ship, latching onto the Betron-4's hull and dragging it back down toward Earth.   
  
Jack's heart pounded as the shaking increased. He could see the fire building up outside the ship as they approached the Earth's atmosphere again. Re-entry was extremely bumpy, but they managed to get through it. Still though they plummeted toward the ground as the hook gave out from the pressure, sending them toward a mountain.  
  
"We must get out of here!" Jack tore his seatbelt off and leapt to his feet, grabbing Reggoth before he could say a word and darting into the back. He shoved the door open, watching the landscape whiz by below them. In a few moments they flew over a small lake, so he leapt from the ship, taking the pilot with him.  
  
"Are you bloody nuts!?" Reggoth screamed as they plummeted toward the water, slamming into it with enough force to knock the smaller man unconscious. Jack pulled him back to the surface and began to swim toward shore, making it just as the Betron-4 slammed into the side of the mountain. The blast shook the entire landscape even waking the pilot who opened his eyes slowly.  
  
"M... MY SHIP!" Reggoth screamed almost in pain when he saw the impact site just as Keela's fighter landed a few yards away from them. He stomped up to it and waited by the exit until Keela made her way outside to greet them. "You destroyed m'ship you little..."  
  
"Back off!" Keela shoved him back, sending him flying hard into the ground. Though she looked frail, she was obviously pretty strong. "I don't give a damn about YOU or your ship!"  
  
"Who do you care about then, are you working for Aku?" Jack asked suspiciously.  
  
"No of course not, I hate that monster more than you do, which is why we will take him out HERE in THIS time!" Keela retorted.  
  
"I will not go with you until you explain yourself." For once Jack let his anger seep into his voice as he stomped up to the slightly smaller woman. "Why did you stop me from returning home, and why do you only want Aku destroyed in this time?"  
  
"Because..." Keela hesitated, her pale blue eyes growing moist as she glared up at him. "Because as evil as he is... as much as I hate him... if it wasn't for Aku, I would have never known true happiness." She replied.  
  
"Have you lost your bloody mind?" Reggoth demanded. "Aku rains evil everywhere he goes, he's a demon worse than any I've ever seen, and you say he brought happiness into your life?" He threw his hands up in disgust, but Jack's eyes just stared into hers intently.  
  
"A long time ago, I worked on a trader vessel... as a piece of merchandise..." She stared back seriously, never letting her eyes waver. "When Aku opened his ports here, we came to see what new business we could find... it was here that I met a human named Jonathan. He stole me away from the trader ship and we took our own ship from the yards, taking off across the stars and never looking back. If Aku hadn't opened the ports I would have never met him and I'd still be a piece of merchandise." When she finished her eyes dared the two men to judge her harshly.  
  
"I understand now why you want history to remain... but to condemn all living things to evil and tyranny for a reason so selfish is no better than the one who inflicted it upon them." Jack told her steadily. She'd been ready for a scream, a yell, a rant, but this caught her off guard. "I know your life was hard, but others are now even harder because of Aku's evil, we cannot condemn them to this fate, especially since it was my own failure that led to it."  
  
"Well what do w'do now?" Reggoth asked angrily. "M'ships now a smoldering piece o'crap on the side o'the mountain."  
  
"I can still take you to the world where the scions live, we can still destroy Aku together Jack, you and me." Keela offered.  
  
"Agreed... but I must have your word that if I find a way back home, if I find a way to stop Aku in my time, you will not interfere." The warrior replied.  
  
"Jack come on... don't be ridiculous, let's just go." She said.  
  
"I will not go with you without your word of honor." Jack told her in no uncertain terms.  
  
"Fine... I give you my word." Keela told him, though she was frowning as she spoke.  
  
"Hold on lady, you owe m'BIG for this! It'll cost me a BIG fortune t'rebuild everything that you destroyed!" Reggoth reminded her angrily. "Feel lucky I don't charge you for emotional damage too."  
  
"Do I look rich to you? You're just out of luck." Keela tried to worm her way out of it, but Jack would have none of that.  
  
"It is our interference that destroyed his ship, it is our duty to repay him for it." The samurai told her.  
  
"That's right it's your duty. I'm not leaving you alone until you repay m'every dime." Reggoth told her. "Or maybe I should just take your ship in return and fit it with m'own engine."  
  
"No way, that's the ship Jonathan stole for me! Touch the controls and I'll skin you like a pig!" Keela yelled furiously.  
  
"We should go, the scions are waiting and we won't earn the money to repay Reggoth for his loss standing around here." Jack told them calmly as he went inside Keela's ship. The other two stared after him, then scowled at each other darkly before turning to follow him. Jack knew this would not be easy or fun, but what in his life HAD been those things up to this point? He would just have to continue his fight as he always did and hope he found a way home. If he didn't, he could always settle for destroyed the evil here. Either way, he would not allow Aku's evil to reign very long.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	2. The Scion Of Sight

Part 2: The Scion of Sight  
  
  
  
The ships engine hummed softly throughout the interior of the small fighter as it flew through the empty vastness of space. The samurai warrior was still unaccustomed to the feeling, but after several days of travel he was slowly getting used to it. By Keela's suggestion they were heading toward a planet called Mercury. Reggoth seemed a little suspicious of this however and had no problem voicing his suspicions.  
  
"There's nothing out here, the planet is practically uninhabitable. Why would a minion o'Aku waste his time in that wasteland?" He demanded with his arms crossed over his chest.  
  
"Because you imbecile, it's as close to the center of the solar system as the Scion of Sight can get, from there he can monitor almost the entire Milky Way." Keela shot back.  
  
"I still see n'reason t'trust you, if Jack was smart he'd ditch you a'the next port and b'done with you." Reggoth turned and stalked into the back of the ship, leaving a very angry and frustrated Keela at the controls alone. Jack sat in one of the seats behind the pilots with his eyes closed in concentration.  
  
"So the scion can see through space, will he not see us coming?" the warrior asked though he never opened his eyes.  
  
"He'd see us if he had reason to suspect something. As long as we don't announce that you've left Earth quite yet we MIGHT be able to make it close enough to Mercury to get in, take him out, and be out before the scion can get a distress call to Aku." Keela replied simply. At his questioning look she sighed and explained. "As the ruffian said, Mercury is an almost uninhabitable wasteland even with a bio-dome in place. Once we pass Mars without heading toward it we'll be calling attention to ourselves."  
  
"It sounds like a risky plan, perhaps I should go alone." Jack stated.  
  
"Sure, take the helm captain." Keela told him in a mocking tone of voice, knowing he wouldn't have a prayer of figuring out the controls. After that they sat in companionable silence for awhile until the pilot broke the silence again.  
  
"Why do you still trust me?" She asked him without turning to face him.  
  
"Pardon?" Jack replied.  
  
"I betrayed you, I destroyed perhaps your only chance in the galaxy of getting back to your own time and you're still willing to trust me enough to let me pilot the ship like this... how can you be so trusting?" Finally she turned to look back at him seriously. Jack stared back at her just as seriously.  
  
"During my journey, I have seen great men do terrible things. Evil is a terrible force to overcome, many are consumed by it instead, the desire to help yourself over all others is natural. Do not be mistaken, I do not yet trust that you wouldn't do it again if I find another way back, but I trust that you will not cause me any harm as long as I am trying to help you." His eyes stared into hers steadily as she stared back, finally closing her eyes and turning back toward the control panel.  
  
"Fair enough." Was her only reply. They rode in uncomfortable silence until the radar began to flash in front of her. "We're passing Mars... from this point on we could be spotted at any moment." She grabbed the throttle and pushed it all the way up, sending them up to the maximum speed. "Cross your fingers that we reach him before he sees us coming."  
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The depths of space almost seemed like they would swallow them as they approached a small planet silhouetted by the suns' flames. Jack, Keela and Reggoth stared at it with growing apprehension as they approached, moving uncomfortably fast since they hadn't yet figured out a plan to get on the surface itself. Their question was put aside however when the stars around them seemed to blink in a perfect line.  
  
"Looks like we've got an escort." Keela commented ironically when she saw the flash of a red eye on one of the dark ships trailing beside them. "Alright, we need a plan fast to get onto the surface, any ideas?"  
  
"The hanger bay." Reggoth said instantly. "You and m'can create a distraction while Jack does his thing, then comes t'get us."  
  
"Are you insane? If we land in the hanger the scion will see all three of us instantly and we'll all be toast."  
  
"If you've got a better plan then share it." Reggoth snapped back. She just stared up at him angrily since she really didn't have any plan, let alone a better one. "Besides, if h'knows we're coming h'might already have seen us, so we'd might as well take the chance."  
  
"You're insane." She reminded him again though she turned to guide the ship toward the main hanger of the bio dome. The dark ships trailed behind them, obviously wanting them to go there anyway. The ship flew through the massive double doors and set down gently on the steel floor. Two dozen dark shapes waiting on the floor, one with a large red symbol glowing on it's chest. The shadows began to move toward the ships door, but Reggoth grabbed Keela's hand and hurried to meet them.  
  
"Follow m'lead." He ordered her before they reached the entrance. Jack turned to watch the altercation outside through the monitor display on the control panel.  
  
The two pilots stumbled out of the ship with Reggoth laughing merrily to himself until Keela finally caught on and followed suit. The shadows watched them without even moving as they reached the bottom of the steps that led up to the ship, swaying and laughing to themselves.  
  
"Hey, where's the women? Isn't this the Mars colony?" Reggoth slurred his speech and stared at the shadow like staring into a dark blot was an everyday occurrence. "They have great parties here you know, none better in the solar system. Like this stinking pit of a system is worth much else." He chuckled to himself again drunkenly. The scions red sphere emitted a crimson light that encompassed the two, seeming to peer right into their bodies.  
  
When that was finished it looked up at the ship and slowly dragged the crimson beam from the tail on up, looking for something. In the cockpit Jack silently drew his sword and held it in front of him, standing ready should he be discovered already. Reggoth and Keela both tensed up despite their farce as the crimson light swept over the front of the ship. The samurai tensed to leap into battle, but the light lasted only a few moments before it died down, leaving him untouched and, apparently, unseen.  
  
[Bring them.] A dark fluctuating voice commanded. The smaller shadows grabbed Keela and Reggoth to drag them off, the pilots still maintaining their farce though they were obviously quite unnerved. [And destroy their ship.] The remaining shadows nodded and turned to head up the ramp that led to the inside of the ship while the scion turned to follow the prisoners.  
  
One of the shadows walked up the small flight of steps and went in, only to scream and disintegrate into the air as a silver streak went right through its middle. Before any of the others could react the samurai warrior leapt from the ship and swung his sword in a wide arc, tearing two more in half and whirling to face the rest.  
  
The shadows lunged all at once, but the warrior leapt back and parried with his blade, striking back to sever arms and legs and occasionally striking a killing blow that dispersed them into the air. He whirled again and struck down two more, barely avoiding being impaled as one lunged from behind with its arm in the form of a dark blade.  
  
Jack sliced the blade clean off and whirled to disperse the shadows itself, holding the blade in front of him at the ready and looking around for any more opponents. One was running the other way, probably to warn the others, but Jack threw his blade with unerring accuracy. It went right through the creature, dispersing it before the end plunged into the wall and stuck there.  
  
The warrior walked over and took the blade in his hand again, pulling it out of the wall. He slid it slowly back into its sheathe as he turned to follow the other shadows where they'd taken Keela and Reggoth. The corridors were long and there seemed to be no trace of them to track them by. He would be lucky just to be able to find his way back to the ship.  
  
Finally he seemed to be making some progress when he heard voices coming from another room nearby. He could hear Reggoth and Keela's voices, but no others were around. First he thought to free them right now, but realized that would likely be a foolish attempt. They would undoubtedly be guarded, and very well.  
  
[Indeed warrior.] The samurai whirled to see the scion standing right behind him with dozens of the shadows behind it. [You might have succeeded in sneaking past me had the blade not left your side.] The warrior pulled the sword and held it in front of him, even though it was likely pointless. So, it seemed the sword could not only kill them, but block their powers as well. Of course when he'd thrown it...  
  
"You will never win over me or the side of righteousness." Jack said.  
  
[We'll see.] The scion replied as the shadows inched their way forward slowly. There were way too many for Jack to take alone, but he would certainly not give up without a fight.  
  
The sword swept through the air, slicing through five of the shadows at once and blocking several others in a flurry of lightning-fast movements, but that was little more than a fraction of the total numbers here. He fought valiantly, the steel of his blade ringing against the dark blades of the shadows and sending sparks flying every which way.  
  
He tried to press the attack, lunging into the mass of darkness and swinging skillfully, albeit blindly. He cut through the shadows like a cleaver, but still sheer numbers drove him back again as he was assaulted from nearly every direction. Blades cut into his chest, arms, and legs deeply enough to make him stumble and even lose his grip on his sword for a moment.  
  
He tried once more to make a stand, swinging the mystical blade in wide arcs to get the shadows away from him, but finally numbers and bleeding combined to send the warrior to the ground, panting and shaking from his exertions. He raised his head to glare up at the scion as he stood over the fallen warrior.  
  
[Contact Aku, tell him we have a little gift.] The scion told his minions, who turned to scurry off to wherever it was they had to go to carry out their masters command. [I must admit warrior to being a little disappointed, this is the one who gave my master such trouble. Pitiful.] Jack glared up at him until he finally felt the darkness of unconsciousness overtake him.  
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"Jack..." Keela whispered from the room they'd been suddenly thrown into for no apparent reason. By now she figured they were set up at a trap, a trap that had obviously been pretty effective. "We have to save him." She started to pull the door open, but Reggoth grabbed her shoulder and dragged her back.  
  
"Going out there wouldn't do anything. We have t'get back to your ship." Reggoth told her.  
  
"What? We can't abandon him!" Keela yelled back, but Reggoth quickly put his hand over her mouth to silence her as he spoke.  
  
"I'm not saying w'do darling, but they're going t'have t'take Jack off o'Mercury in a ship, w'can use your fighter t'disable it and save him. We'd have a much better chance up there then w'do down here with all o'those shadows around." Reggoth explained as calmly as he could. Keela stared at him for a moment, looking at the door and back again before she finally nodded.  
  
"We have to find a way out of here first, I don't think we can beat the shadows without Jack's sword." Keela cursed to herself silently as she crept up to the door and opened it slightly to peek through. She gave a small squeal of triumph a moment later. "It's still there, I thought so. It was made to banish evil, these shadows are pure evil, they can't even touch it let alone move it."  
  
"Great, it does us a lot o'good with the shadows parked between us and it." Reggoth grumped and gestured to the three shadows that stood watch just outside the door.  
  
"I can get it." Keela reached down to start unbuttoning her shirt, starting to strip down while Reggoth watched dumbfounded.  
  
"You're gonna... tease 'em?" He asked numbly.  
  
"No you idiot, now turn around!" She slapped him across the face pointedly so he had to look away from her.  
  
"You know really I don't think they would be attracted to you. Not that you're not pretty attractive and all, you have a nice figure, but these things don't seem human, you know? ... eh?" He turned to take a peek, but saw nothing behind him anywhere except a pile of clothing on the floor. "Keela?" He looked around in confusion for a few moments before a subtle movement at the door caught his eye. It was almost like a distortion in the air.  
  
"Now there's a skill I didn't know about..." He mused softly to himself as he watched her skin shift colors as she moved, really only the slight distortion as the colors rearranged to match her surroundings revealed her presence. If she held still he doubted he would have ever known she was there. She moved at an agonizingly slow pace, inching her way right between the shadows that stood on either side of the door.  
  
She stopped and held her breath when one turned toward her, staring right at her almost like it was suspicious. She waited with her breath in her throat until it finally relaxed again and she could resume inching her way forward. It became harder and harder however as she moved in front of the two of them so that they were watching her almost constantly even if they didn't know it.  
  
"Go for it I'll distract them!" Reggoth leapt on the back of one of the shadows, trying to tackle it. It hardly had any effect however as they both whirled to knock him right back into the room with nary a thought. He slammed into the edge of the table with a sharp gasp of pain, collapsing to the floor. It was healed only slightly when he saw the shadows skewered from behind one at a time and Keela ran in, now her solid pale self again though she still had no clothing. "I'll b'fine..."  
  
"Hurry up they're probably already gone with Jack by now!" Keela gathered up her clothing and took off down the hall, Reggoth hauling the sword with him as he ran behind her. When they reached the ship she ran into the back to get dressed again, calling back to him. "Scan the area for any signs of Jack and the scion!"  
  
"Aye!" Reggoth agreed as he sat in the co-pilots seat and tapped a few buttons on the console. "You were right, they've already left the planet on their way back to Earth, the scion's with him. They aren't taking any chances of his escape."  
  
"Get us out of here!" She called back. It was really unnecessary though since Reggoth was already firing up the engines and guiding them toward the hanger bay door. They were still closed, but one missile blast later and they were taking off through the stars, tracking Jack's signature through the void of space. In a few moments Keela returned fully dressed and took the pilot's seat.  
  
"You never told us you could do that trick back there." He told her.  
  
"I never told you I couldn't. Now shut up and keep an eye out, we're getting close and we won't be able to spot it against the blackness of space unless we pay careful attention." She told Reggoth as she scanned the darkness through the front window intently.  
  
"There they are!" Keela exclaimed when she saw a red glint among the stars. She reached down and armed the second missile turret.   
  
"How d'you plan t'attack them exactly? W'can barely see them." Reggoth reminded her.  
  
"First we mark our prey, then we hunt." She fired one missile, sending a shockwave through the ship as the projectile streaked through the darkness toward it's objective. The ship tried to dodge, but the missile still struck the side hull, exploding on contact. Instead of damaging it however, the blast coated the side with a bright red substance, sticking out like a sore thumb against the darkness around it.  
  
"You've fought them before haven't you?" Reggoth asked.  
  
"Hundreds of times." Keela replied as she reached down to fire from the first missile turret now, which was filled with live missiles...  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The shockwaves from a pair of explosions shocked the unconscious samurai warrior into wakefulness. His entire body was still numb and wracked with pain in various places, in addition he was strapped to a machine in what appeared to be the back of the space ship. The steady vibrations of its movement gave further evidence of his whereabouts.  
  
He groaned and blinked, trying to clear his head before taking another look around. Several shadows were scattered about the small room, and the scion himself was standing behind another shadow at the control panel. It turned to look up at him, knowing he was awake.  
  
[Good morning warrior, just in time to die.] It told him.  
  
"I will never fall to you, I will defeat you." Jack replied vehemently.  
  
[Ironically, it is not me who will kill you, but your self-proclaimed comrades.] The scion gestured to the screen behind him where Keela's vessel was still firing on them with everything she had. [The woman has been a thorn in our sides for too many years, when she destroys you with a... stray missile to the engines, she will lose all hope and give up her pointless fight, ridding Aku of two threats at once.]  
  
"You will be destroyed as well, are you ready to sacrifice yourself for your master?" Jack asked. The scion's answer surprised him.  
  
[In a heartbeat. Though it won't be necessary, I can survive the blackness of space.] They stared at each other as another blast sent the entire ship reeling. The scion hardly seemed to fee it and Jack couldn't really be throw about since he was tied down so tightly. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he tried to think of a way out, but none presented itself. The scion turned to watch the screen as another missile streaked toward them from the small fighter, flying through the darkness with unerring accuracy. [Goodbye, samurai Jack.]  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
Keela watched in shock as the entire ship exploded in a shower of fire and sparks that was quickly put out by the empty void of space. Her mouth hung open and she pressed her palm against the window. "Jack... no I wasn't shooting at the engines!" She exclaimed in a rising panic. Reggoth took the controls and slowly guided the ship into the debris field.  
  
"Where is he!?" Keela exclaimed as her eyes quickly scanned the rubble. "Jack... come on don't do this to me you buffoon! Too many good people have been killed..." She banged one fist against the window and leaned her forehead against it, her shoulders shaking.  
  
"I'm getting a signal." Reggoth told her as he turned the ship. "45 degrees starboard." They turned and the fighters lights shined on a single form huddled amid the rubbles, blackened and burned, also clutching what looked like an intact oxygen tank. His entire body was tensed up to fight back the pressure of the spatial void and his eyes were clenched shut. His chest barely moved against the void that pressed against it, struggling to bring oxygen into his system since his mouth was over the nozzle of the tank.  
  
"Take us close enough to pull him into one of the empty missile bays!" Keela commanded as she turned to run through the ship down to the weapons arrays. The ship swung right beside Jack and opened one of the missile bay doors, moving over him and closing the outside before they pumped oxygen into it, giving him a little air to breathe until Keela could get down there and open the hatch.  
  
"I can't believe you survived that!" She exclaimed as she pulled him out of the tube. Jack crumpled to his knees, gasping for breath and clutching at his chest. "Hey, you'll be okay." She put one arm around his shoulders and smiled victoriously. "We took down the scion at least."  
  
"No..." Jack gasped out, leaning back against the steel wall. His face was blackened and burned. "He can survive in space... though I don't think... for long..." He gasped out and clutched his chest.  
  
"Come on, let's get you to the cockpit." She put one of his arms around her shoulders and helped him through the corridors to the cockpit of the fighter, letting him rest in the third seat in the back. "Reggoth, what's the nearest planet or base for the scion to run to?"  
  
"What? Oh, um... assuming h'could have possibly survived that blast, the space colony Mars retreat six is only a few minutes from here. It's like a Mars colony for poor people." He smirked.  
  
"Take us there." Keela turned to Jack and gently started to examine the burns on his skin. He grunted with pain, though he tried not to.  
  
"Where is my sword..." He asked simply. Keela reached over and grabbed it, handing the enchanted blade to the warrior.  
  
"Jack... I'm sorry. I got carried away, I could have killed you." Keela told him regretfully.  
  
"Do not worry, they destroyed the ship themselves... they merely wanted you to think you'd done it." Jack shifted into a slightly more comfortable position and slid the blade back into it's sheathe, which still hung at his side. "We must catch the scion before it can make its way back to Aku or contact him.  
  
"Yeah... agreed." Keela said as she stood and turned to look out the window. Reggoth hadn't been kidding, already they were approaching the space colony. She caught a glimpse of a dark shadow moving through one of the hanger bay doors as well. "There he is, Reggoth take us in that hanger bay. Blast it open if you have to." She walked over to Jack and helped him to his feet. "We'll head out once we land... I have a plan."  
  
"Yes ma'am." Reggoth replied as he guided the ship down toward the massive double doors. Keela and Jack made their way through the ship while Reggoth blasted his way through the steel doors, making it in just before the field erected behind him to maintain the pressure required for living things. They set down lightly and the door opened, letting them off the ship.  
  
"He's around here somewhere, he couldn't have gone far." Keela muttered to herself as she slowly moved through the spacious hanger with Jack beside her. He had his sword drawn and ready in front of him, though he was obviously far from recovered after he'd been floating in space a matter of minutes ago. She had to admit, she'd never seen a man who could last as long as him.  
  
"Show yourself you demon!" Jack shouted a challenge that rang through the hanger, making everyone pause and stare at him in confusion. Still there was no response until a shadow detached from the wall and crept along the ground toward him.  
  
[Very well warrior, if you want me to be your killer instead of the girl, I would gladly oblige.] It reshaped itself until it was once again in the form of the Scion of Sight, watching the samurai with a steady gaze. [One-on-one.]  
  
"I accept!" Jack replied instantly, but Keela held him back.  
  
"He'll slaughter you, you're practically dead as it is!" She reminded him.  
  
[Yes warrior, you could let me kill the girl in combat first, it makes little difference to me.] The scion told him.  
  
"I will not back down, you will be defeated by my hand right now." Jack raised his sword in front of him and dropped into a low stance. He was moving well enough at the moment, but he knew if he didn't end it swiftly his wounds and weakness would overcome him in a matter of moments.  
  
"You idiot..." Keela grumbled as she grudgingly moved to the side to give the combatants room. Her gaze was worried as she watched the two mortal enemies face each other for a moment until they finally lunged for each other at the same time.  
  
Jack lunged and thrust his blade froward, but the shadow dodged nimbly and struck back, sending the samurai flying into the side of Keela's fighter. He gave a sharp gasp of pain and crumpled to his hands and knees, clutching the blade in one tightly clenched fist. He shoved himself to his feet and lunged again, this time being thrown across the room to slam into the floor hard, giving another pained grunt on impact.  
  
[Foolish samurai, you couldn't defeat me even with all your strength, you haven't a prayer in your weakened state.] The scion taunted.  
  
"Then let's even the odds." Reggoth's voice came over a loudspeaker as one of the missile turrets lowered and pointed straight at the scion. The shadowy form just gave a stark laugh and glared at it, not even bothering to make a move to dodge.  
  
[Mortal weapons cannot harm me!] He declared.  
  
"No, but this can." The turret fired suddenly, sending a silver streak flying through the air. Too late the Scion Of Sight saw what it was before the true mystical blade plunged into his stomach, tearing through his substance like fire burning through a piece of paper. The sword stuck into the ground behind it as the scion crumpled to its knees, clutching its stomach.  
  
Jack crawled over and picked up his real sword, pushing himself up to his feet and approaching the shadow. It glared up at him with hatred clear in its manner.  
  
[You... will NEVER... defeat Aku...] It told him though its voice was wracked with pain.  
  
"I will defeat Aku, but first I will defeat you and all your kind, demon." Jack replied as he raised the blade above his head and brought it crashing back down. The blade sliced through the scion's dark substance, setting it ablaze and writhing as though it were a living thing. A shrill scream split the air and echoed through the steel hanger as the darkness swirled and darted about almost desperately. Finally though the darkness began to fade until the screams were gone, and it was as if the shadows had never been anything more than simple darkness.  
  
Jack stood for a moment before the spot where his opponent had been vanquished. Slowly a cheer surged through the spectators until they were in an uproar. Pushed past his limits, the samurai crumpled to his hands and knees, his limbs shaking too much to even try to push himself up. He turned his face to see Keela kneeling over him with a smile on her face.  
  
"I knew you were the right man... I think we have a little time before we have to go. You can rest and recover here." She told him. Jack however shook his head and slowly pushed himself back up, leaning against the fighter as he looked around at the crowd.  
  
"I can recover on the way... but I cannot rest until Aku's evil is put to an end." With that Jack turned and made his legs climb every agonizing step up into the ship. Keela watched him with a surprised look on her face, and even the gathered crowd had fallen into a hushed silence. Without another word and with a ghost of a smile Keela followed him up the steps and closed the door behind them. She felt she was beginning to figure him out a little bit. This thought comforted her while Reggoth took the ship out of the station the same way they had come, vanishing into the darkness of space as quickly as they'd come. For this warrior, there could be no rest until his mission was accomplished.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	3. The Scion Of Strength

Part 3: The Scion of Strength  
  
  
  
Even the hum of the ships engine was drowned out by the heavy helmet worn by the bounty hunter as her ship streaked through the vastness of space. She looked down at the control console as her perpetually gloved hand tapped at the controls, bringing up her mission specs. A single picture came up on the screen of a man in a white flowing robe with a katana strapped to his side. The text beside the picture gave her all the information she needed. A simple samurai with a sword going for more money than even her one-of-a-kind biomechanical suit was worth.  
  
It was too easy, so much just for one man, and Aku had even sought her out specifically for this job. There was something she didn't know about this guy, there had to be. Nobody paid so much for a known crime-boss let alone a single helpless samurai. Still, it wasn't her place to ask questions. She would just have to keep her guard up. She had no doubt what the outcome would be anyway, nobody had ever escaped Samus Aran.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The warrior sat alone in the small weapons storage space that was intended to be used only in the event of a crash landing. He had his eyes closed and his legs folded in front of him, his hands resting on his knees. His senses and mind tingles with sensations as he fell into a meditative trance, healing his mind and body after the taxing battle with the Scion of Sight. He was far from healed, but he was moving in the right direction.  
  
"You need a doctor." Keela's voice floated into his consciousness from somewhere outside himself. Her tone of voice was calm and dulcet, as it had been ever since they'd left the station after the confrontation. "You need a doctor, and you need to rest. You won't do anyone any good like this."  
  
"I cannot rest while Aku is still alive..." Jack replied, never opening his eyes. Still, he could see the wisdom in her words. "I will not stop..." He finally opened his eyes and looked up at her standing over him in front of the door. Her eyes pierced into his like daggers, searching for any sign of weakness and finding none in his soul, but his body was fragile.  
  
"I'm not saying you should stop, but you need to bide your time. We had to strike the Scion of Sight quickly so he wouldn't track us down, but the others we can pursue at our own pace. No one will ever see us coming." She kneeled down and put one hand on his shoulder, staring into his face. He stared back with his own piercing gaze.  
  
"What happened to him...?" Jack asked suddenly.  
  
"What? Who?"  
  
"Jonathan... the man who saved you from your enslavement. What happened to him?" Keela stared at the warrior for a few moments in surprise before she averted her gaze down to the deck of the ship, her eyes narrowing in thought. She closed them and sat down beside the warrior, crossing her legs in front of her.   
  
"We ran as far and fast as we could, but they still tracked us down. I was a big moneymaker for them, and they always protected their investments." She spoke softly, never looking up at the samurai. "They caught up with us and... caught us by surprise. I managed to get to the ship but Jonathan was killed within moments of their finding us... I think the only reason I had time to escape was because they wanted me back alive..."  
  
"I... am sorry." Was all the warrior could think to say in consolation.  
  
"That's why I want Aku dead... the traders sold him their services right before I broke away... if I help take down the sorcerer the traders will crumble under the uprising that will result from the demon's hold being broken." Keela said firmly and looked over at the samurai, newfound determination in her eyes. "Do you know what it's like to know the only one you ever loved, the only one who cared about you, died because of YOUR past?"  
  
"Aku's evil has afflicted many, I have seen peaceful peoples turned to war or ravaged like beasts in cages. Good men's hearts have been tainted and manipulated while the unjust grows even stronger. It is these things that I fight to correct, to rid the world of this curse and bring peace back to however many worlds there are." The samurai replied with a sharp gaze.  
  
"I see..." Keela looked down at the floorplates again with a sigh. "I guess my own suffering means nothing in the face of all that..." She stared at the steel floor until she felt a gentle hand touching her shoulder. She looked up to see the warriors' gentle eyes peering into her own.  
  
"It is to right all wrongs that I fight, including those afflicted upon you. As long as I live and we travel together, I swear by this magical sword that the traders will never get near you." He told her with one hand on the hilt of the blade he wore at his side. They stared at each other for a few long moments, something unidentifiable hanging in the air until finally the intercom beeps on the wall.  
  
"Hey, we're coming up on Tarsonis fast, and it looks like there's something going on down on the surface. You may want t'have a look up here." Reggoth's voice came back through the intercom, interrupting them. They looked at each other for a moment more before they both stood to make their way up to the cockpit.  
  
The surface of the planet was covered with huge cities bigger than even the largest that the warrior had seen on Earth, built of diamond and glass that reflected the light of the crimson sun with brilliant intensity and a billion different shades. There were hundreds of people milling about in what looked like a man-made crater of some sort, a coliseum.  
  
"I think we've found the Scion o'Strength." Reggoth commented with an ironic smirk. "Want t'go down now or wait and see what it can do?" He asked the others.  
  
"We should wait, see what he's capable of before we make any moves." Keela replied, keeping her eyes focused intently on the screen in front of her. "This place is built around physical contests, it might make our lives easier if we can study him in action before we confront him." Jack looked over at her and nodded in agreement before he looked back at the small screen that showed a large, multi-armed alien taking the field.  
  
"And now, here comes the reigning champion..." Before the voice could continue the entire ship was flung forward, as though something had slammed into the back of it. The radar on the control panel flashed a warning as another blip streaked toward them.  
  
"What the hell!? Who would b'attacking us up here!? Could Aku have found us!?" Reggoth asked as he strapped himself quickly into the pilots seat, Keela taking copilot. Jack strapped himself into the third seat behind the other two.  
  
"We'll worry about that in a minute, won't matter who it is if we're blown to pieces. Dead is dead." Keela slammed down in the throttle to send the ship streaking across the sky just before another blast could slam into them. Looking down, they could see the blast hitting the coliseum bleachers, punching a hole into them and several dozen spectators before it left their sight.  
  
"Whoever it is, they don't care who they take down t'get t'us d'they?" Reggoth asked rhetorically, dodging another blast.  
  
"Take us around behind them, maybe we can identify them and take them down." Keela said. Reggoth nodded and jerked on the flight stick, sending the reformed fighter into a steep right vertical turn. The ship arced through the air until the engines cut, letting them continue to spin for a moment as their momentum continued to carry them upward. When the engines reactivated they were facing down toward the ground with their attacked clearly in view.  
  
"Holy hell!" Keela's eyes went wide just before the fighter streaked by the bigger, bulkier ship. "That's Samus' ship!" Reggoth looked over at her in surprise for a moment, then remembered to bring them out of their nosedive before they hit the ground.  
  
"Who is that?" Jack shouted above the roar of the engines.  
  
"Samus Aran, one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. She's one of the best, but also one of the most expensive, only someone with a lot of resources could hire her..." Keela's eyes bore into Jack's meaningfully despite the rocking of the ship.  
  
"Aku sent her." Jack agreed with a firm nod.  
  
"Can we lose her?" Keela turned to Reggoth now with a questioning glance.  
  
"I don't know, her ship's faster than it looks." Reggoth smirked. "If it is her then she's only after Jack, if he's off the ship then she would stop chasing us around."  
  
"Come on get serious!" Keela demanded, but Jack turned to look back at the missile compartments thoughtfully.  
  
"Do you have any empty missile shells?" The samurai leaned forward to ask.  
  
"Yeah half our compliment is empty, warheads don't come cheap you know. At least with those people think a few more times before taking us on, why?" Keela looked back at him, looking into his eyes. "You have a plan don't you?" Her voice showed with admiration that he could think even in thee circumstances.  
  
"If you drop me inside of one of the shells, I would reach the ground and be able to sneak into the city to find the Scion, and the bounty hunter would leave you two alone." Jack told her.  
  
"That's insane, she'd shoot you out o'the sky a quarter o'the way down." Reggoth shouted back to him.  
  
"Not if we dropped the rest of the compliment with him, she wouldn't know which one he was in." Keela exclaimed. "It could work, we'd just have to set Jack's missile to fire its rocket just before impact to ease the landing, of course it would have to be pointing up for that to work..." Her face darkened a bit. "If it was pointing to the side or down..."  
  
"I will take care of it, let's get to work." Jack unfastened himself and tried to head toward the back, though that proved very difficult with Reggoth still dodging occasional fire from Samus' ship.  
  
"Reggoth, talk to her while we get everything ready, get her to stop firing for a minute!" Keela yelled from halfway toward the back hatch. Reggoth nodded back and hit a few buttons on the control panel, bringing up the screen. Jack didn't have time to listen in on their conversation though. The two of them went into the back weapons compartment where the missile cases were kept.  
  
The ship did level out long enough for Keela to work on the pod Jack would be in. Quickly she grabbed the blankets and pillows from the ground where they slept during their journey and stuffed them in so the ride wouldn't be so horribly bumpy. When she had everything ready she turned to face the samurai with a serious expression on her face.  
  
"Are you sure about this? There's still a chance we could lose her." She said.  
  
"You can come back for me when the bounty hunter has gone, I will be in the capitol where the Scion is." Jack gave her a comforting smile despite his serious demeanor. "Do not worry, nothing working for Aku's evil can defeat me." His assurances did little to help calm her fears however as he climbed into the missile hatch amid the cushioning she'd provided.  
  
"Be careful until we come back for you, good luck." She forced herself to smile back at him as she reached up and closed the missile hatch, pushing the pod into the loading bay. Jack waited in the dark silence of the missile bay for what seemed like forever to his beating heart, but was in truth only a matter of minutes.  
  
He looked down through the dark tinted window to see the hatch opening, the cloud passing by just below him. For a moment he wasn't so sure about this, but it was too late to turn back now. The pod slid down the tube slowly until it plunged down into the empty air around the ship, plummeting down toward the clouds below him. Through the widow he could see a dozen other pods falling alongside him.  
  
He looked up toward the sky to see Samus' ship heading toward the falling pods, firing several shots. Most missed, but two pods were taken out just in the first pass and they weren't even into the cloud cover yet. Somehow Jack didn't think any pods would make it all the way down.  
  
The ship came back around quickly, homing in on his pod in particular. The samurai could only watch as the cannons on the ships front powered up, giving off a small glow. Before they could discharge however a blast from the smaller fight slammed into the hull, tilting the ship and sending the twin beams off to the side, a few feet away from the pods.  
  
Jack gasped as the ship passed through the group of falling missiles, clipping his own and sending him spinning out of control just before he entered the clouds. His head was spinning even faster than the pod was and the clouds made it impossible to tell which way was up and down. An explosion nearby informed him that he was far from free of danger even in the clouds.  
  
He tried to throw himself against the sides of the missile to halt his spin, but the momentum was far too great for him to level it out before it would hit the ground. He stared out of the tinted window as he left the cloud cover, the planet's expanse stretching before him. He was back near the main capitol, they must have tried to bring him as close to it as they could.  
  
He made a mental note of where he was, well as good a one as he could in this spin and resumed trying to right himself. Only half a dozen missile pods remained in the air, and though the fighter kept pestering the much bigger ship Samus seemed intent on taking them all out above all else.  
  
Without warning Jack was jolted and the missile shuddered, the rapid spin slowing somewhat as something invisible seemed to tug at it. He looked up through the window to see the fighter hovering above him, a soft point of light coming from it and shining down onto the missiles. All of the empty pods mostly ceased their random turning and fell in one direction.  
  
"Get out of there!" Jack yelled, though he knew his warning would do no good. Samus' ship came around behind the small fighter and fired both beams directly at it. The bright red flashed of light tore into the ship. The wing erupted into a sheet of flames and it lurched to the side, losing whatever hold it had on the missiles as it lunged down toward the ground, trying to keep aloft.  
  
Jack stared in horror as the fighter flew off into the sky, burning and lurching like it would fall to the ground at any moment. He only looked down in time to see the ground coming up fast, and his missile was still tilted, if not spinning anymore. Two more beams detonated the two missiles beside him as he threw his weight against the sides of the shell, trying to right himself before he hit the ground.  
  
The engines underneath him surged to life and let out a great stream of fire as his missile came within fifty feet of the forest he was coming down onto. He kept his hands on the sides of the missile, making what corrections he was able as the missile rocked back and forth from the force of the flames, slowing rapidly. Finally the engines cut and the pod fell the last ten feet, slamming into the ground hard enough to jar the warrior around.  
  
He forced the door of the missile open and leapt out, staring up at the sky through the trees to see if he could spot anything. There was nothing above him however, no sign of the fighter or his pursuer. For a moment he wasn't sure if he should try to find them or continue his mission, but then he realized he couldn't find them anyway. He had no clue where they were, and while he was here he could try to accomplish his mission.  
  
With a heavy heart he turned to make his way to where he thought the city should lay. He hadn't had much time to survey the area, but his memory was usually pretty accurate. He would find his way there and defeat the scion, then he would find Keela and Reggoth. This, he swore.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
"Be safe Jack..." Keela mumbled under her breath as Reggoth struggled to keep the ship in the air until they could find a suitable place to set down. He looked down at the radar when it began to beep, then swore under his breath.  
  
"Looks like we're gonna b'interrogated..." He grumbled just before something latched onto their ship, holding them in place in mid-air. They waited in silence until the comm. Station in the control flared to life, showing the top half of the armored bounty hunter, who watched them through the thick green visor in her helmet.  
  
When she spoke Samus' voice was distorted by the helmet, making her barely sound human. "The question is simple, and I don't like to waste time. Which missile pod was the samurai known as Jack in?" She demanded.  
  
"I see no reason to tell you anything, you're the one who hunts people down for money aren't you? Hunt him yourself." Keela shot back with a sneer.  
  
"Please be nice, for every wrong or smartass answer I get, I take another piece of your ship with me. What can you fly with? A missing engine? Two missing wings?" The bounty hunter asked rhetorically. Keela growled under her breath, but knew there was little she could do.  
  
"Missile pod five... but it doesn't matter. You won't catch up with him or defeat him." Keela said defiantly.  
  
"Good girl, nice friend too. Didn't even have to persuade you." Samus mocked her, and undoubtedly had a smile on her face under the helmet. Keela and Reggoth looked down at the floor plated as they felt their ship being lowered down onto the ground. "I suggest you leave once your ship is repaired, there will be no one for you to collect at the capitol."  
  
"This isn't over you money grubbing bitch... you won't take Jack so easily." Keela half-spoke and half-growled.  
  
"Farewell, hope you two don't see me again." Samus said before her ship turned in midair to head back out of sight in the direction where the pods had fallen. Keela and Reggoth exchanged a quick worried glance, but there was little they could do about it for the moment. They could only hope Jack could handle not only the Scion, but the bounty hunter as well.  
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His sense of direction proved to be as accurate as ever. Jack soon reached the edge of the forest beside the city in a fairly short amount of time, he must have come down closer than he thought. The marble walls extended to either side as far as he could see and there was one archway that led into the city itself. Several men stood just outside of it with laser rifles strapped to their sides. The city must have been put on higher alert after the stray blast had hit the coliseum. That would make his life a lot harder.  
  
He watched the guards with a thoughtful gaze. He didn't think trying to just walk in was a good idea, no doubt any minions of a Scion would know his description and spot him a mile away. He didn't see any other entrances and he couldn't scale the wall, there would be no place for him to hide as he climbed. Still, there might be a chance if he could sail over it...  
  
The warrior turned toward a tree to his right and grabbed into the trunk to scale his way up the rough bark. It bit into his hands painfully, but he ignored it as he made his way up the trunk into the thick foliage overhead. Once he was up he stopped and turned, balancing precariously on one of the large branches near the bottom. Many of these trees were old with long branches, some of which extended halfway across the area between the city wall and the forest.  
  
Jack cast a quick glance down at the guards to make sure they weren't paying attention, then got down in a slight crouch. He took off running over the branch, careful to keep his feet firmly on the thinning piece of wood until he reached about the mid-point, leaping onto it. The branch bowed under his weight before snapping back up again, with the warrior leaping at the same time.  
  
He sailed through the air high above the ground, slamming into the wall just under the top and grabbing onto it. He heaved himself up and jumped on the wall itself, finding a walkway that led all around the perimeter of the city. If there was a path on the wall, that meant there would be guards on it...  
  
"Hold it!" The warrior whirled in a flash, his hand instinctively drawing the magical sword from its scabbard. Two guards stood on the wall in front of him with their rifles pointed at him. "Put down your weapon now!" He demanded. He didn't even wait for a response before he and his partner both opened fire.  
  
The blade cut the air and the blasts of energy that surged toward him as he lunged forward at a run. The guards were taken aback when he leapt into the air over two more blasts, coming down with the blade above his head. A silver streak of light was all anyone could see, followed a moment later by a flash of sparks from two different sources. The guards looked down to find their weapons sliced cleanly in half, falling to the ground.  
  
Already Jack could hear the guards by the gate responding to the patrol's cries, and there were likely other guards strewn about the city who would respond as well. The warrior decided to ignore the two in front of him and took off down the wall toward one of the spires on the corner. Several blasts of energy blew past him, but none came threateningly close before he reached the door and lunged inside.  
  
He ran to the stairs and took them three at a time, running to get to the bottom before the guards came in. Before he reached the floor though he heard the door at the bottom being unlocked. Of course they would bar all entry points during an alert, he should have thought of that.  
  
Without thinking Jack turned and thrust himself through the narrow space between the stairs at the bottom. The space under the stairs was hollow though there was no entrance in the side of the staircase. He hunched down into the deep shadows as the door burst open and several guards poured into the staircase. At the same time several more came down the stairs in a hurry.  
  
"Where did the intruder go?" One of the ones from the top demanded.  
  
"He's got to be around somewhere, keep looking." A guard from the bottom demanded, sending the guards off into different directions. Jack thought about coming out, but he would give them time to fall back into a routine. He would be quickly caught with them combing this specific area for him. He would be patient, and he would choose his time to come out.  
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Samus' ship flew low over the forest, scanning it for any sign of the fifth missile pod. In a moment her radar system beeped and she guided her ship over to the indicated spot. She got up from her seat and walked over to the exit pad, waiting patiently for the panel above her to open and the floor to rise, lifting her out of her ship. She leapt from the top of her ship, an electrical whip from the cannon on her left arm holding onto the hull to lower her more slowly.  
  
The whip retracted into her cannon as she approached the empty pod. There were blankets and pillows lining the inside, and the ground looked slightly scorched where the thrusters had burned into it. She reached up and tapped her helmet, activating a heat sensor in her visor. The ground under the pod was still pure white, with a trail of less intense heat leading through the forest.  
  
Jack had gone toward the city, and he hadn't left THAT long ago. She should be able to catch up to him inside the city itself. With a confident smirk she turned away from the pod and pointed her cannon up at the ship. The whip lashed out to grab hold of the metallic hull, pulling her up toward it at it retracted. She was beginning to see why the bounty was so high, she hadn't expected this much trouble.  
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The warrior waited patiently while time ticked by at a crawl, taunting him because he couldn't move forward or back. He was stuck for now, but he took comfort in the knowledge that he would move forward again and destroy the Scion soon, then he would be halfway finished with his task in space. Once that was done, he could go after Aku himself.  
  
His eyes narrowed and his hand went to the sword at his side in anticipation. Lately he'd been thinking to himself that maybe he didn't have to go back in time, to his own time. As long as Aku was gone in this time, the evil could be purged without the risk of destroying everything. Who knew what could have happened without Aku? Who was to say some other being wouldn't have taken over?  
  
He stood up with his hand on his sword, staring out between the space in the steps. It as quiet out there, he hadn't heard anything for the past ten minutes. Now was as good a time as any to head out, though he would still have to be careful. He slipped back out between the steps, making as little sound as possible as he stood upright and approached the door. He tested the knob softly to see if it was locked. It turned as it should, they had probably forgotten to lock it in their haste to find him.  
  
He pushed the door open and crept outside into the city proper. Buildings lined the street on each side as it wound around a corner, heading straight up to the coliseum in the center. He didn't even wonder where he would find the Scion, he didn't see any other place he would be other than the coliseum itself. Where else would the Scion of Strength want to be?  
  
Deciding against using the main road, he crept alongside one of the rows of buildings, moving silently through the back alleys. He was careful to keep his senses sharp, especially his sense of direction. It wouldn't do to get lost back here and stumble back out where he'd come in. He made his careful way through the alleys without incident, reaching the other side fairly quickly.  
  
Warily he left the shadows of the buildings in the evening suns light and walked up to the steps that led up to the entrance of the coliseum. There were no guards around here, they were probably all guarding the perimeter. After all, there shouldn't be anything in here if they did their jobs.  
  
He leapt back in surprise when a ball about as tall as his legs bounced off the ground in front of him from nowhere, bouncing over his head. He whirled to look behind him at it, only to see a figure standing with a kind of cannon aimed straight at him. The dark green visor glinted in the crimson sunlight as the sun went down behind the mountains.  
  
"I must admit, you're more skilled than I thought. I figured the samurai title was just wishful thinking on your part, after all, who practices such archaic skills in this day and age?" The figures voice was garbled slightly by the helmet she wore, sounding almost more like a machine than human. "You really are though... I'm impressed."  
  
"Samus Aran." Jack gave a slight bow and rested one hand on the hilt of his sword, though he was careful not to move too suddenly. "You've come to take me to Aku for money, I take it." He said.  
  
"Nothing personal of course." Samus nodded. "Now if you'll come with me, I have a vacation I was planning to take with the price on your head."  
  
"I cannot allow you to take me, but I do not wish to hurt you." Jack told her. "Turn away and let me fulfill my destiny."  
  
"Nothing, human or otherwise, has ever escaped me." Samus replied with a determined tone in her voice. "I won't let you be the first."  
  
"Then it would seem I have no choice." Jack closed his eyes and bowed his head in regret, his hand taking hold of the sword at his side more firmly. Samus fired one burst of electrical energy from her cannon, but the silver streak that was Jack's blade cut right through it as the warrior lunged at his pursuer. He struck skillfully, forcing the bounty hunter to dodge with a grace one would not expect from such a large looking figure.  
  
He swung his blade in a wide arc, but Samus leapt over it, folding instantly into a ball to bounce off the ground and over the warriors head. He whirled just in time to see the bounty hunters leg slam into his face, sending him spiraling down the steps of the coliseum painfully. Still he landed on his feet in a cloud of dust, leaping back just as another bolt of energy tore into the ground.  
  
His blade cut through two more blasts as he flew through the air, landing on the ground again in another cloud of dust, skidding a foot or so. He held his magical sword in front of him as he dropped into a fighting stance, facing Samus who still had the cannon aimed right at him.  
  
"Impressive indeed, warrior." Samus said as the cannon on her left arm sprouted three prongs at the front that pulsed with energy. "But I don't have time to mess around with you too long." A surge of energy streaked out from the cannon, slamming into his blade and latching onto it. Jack held onto the hilt as tightly as he could, but the energy still tugged relentlessly.  
  
They played tug-of-war with Jack's sword for a few minutes until Samus finally yanked her arm back, bringing both the warrior and the sword with it. The samurai leapt into the air, using the momentum of the sword to slam his foot into Samus' helmet with enough force to send her stumbling back. Jack lunged forward to capitalize, slamming the hilt of his sword into her helmet, sending her to the ground.  
  
Before either combatant could make another move they heard a single voice cry out from a distance. "Freeze, intruders!" Jack looked back to see half a dozen guards aiming their rifles at them, with dozens more pouring into the clearing in front of the coliseum. Jack let out a small sigh as he lowered the sword to his side, sliding it into his scabbard uselessly.  
  
[So it's true, the samurai has left Earth.] Jack whirled at the sound of a voice in his mind, to see a massive shadow with pulsing red eyes behind him. Its form was that of a giant, muscular and big enough to fill up half of the fairly sized coliseum.  
  
"Wait..." Samus said, lurching to her feet with one hand on her helmet. She looked up at the scion, speaking with authority in her voice. "I have the samurai, I'll take him back to Aku. I've been charged to do this." She said.  
  
[And you've done a good job of making us realize he was here, but that's all you've done. Get out of my sight bounty hunter, before I punish your failure.] The Scion demanded, leaving no question as to what he would do if she didn't comply. Samus stared up at him with her right fist clenched tightly, shaking with anger.  
  
"Nobody stiffs me on a job!" Samus raised her cannon, but instantly two-dozen rifles cocked in her direction, making even her pause to think before she struck.  
  
[Let's get one thing straight bounty hunter, neither I nor Aku give one whit about you or your money.] The Scion of Strength said mockingly. [In fact, for your arrogance, you can share in the samurai's fate.]  
  
"I've heard enough!" Samus streaked forward suddenly in a flash of blue light, startling all the guards. She was upon the scion before any of the guards could even react, her cannon blazing a trail of energy right up the shadows middle. The blasts had no lasting effect but to make the scion irritated. The dark form reached forward with surprising speed, catching her right out of midair.  
  
"Samus!" Jack shouted as the scion brought its palm down onto the ground, causing the Earth to shake from the impact. When it lifted the bounty hunter laid limply on the ground, sparks surging from the suit as it twitched spastically.  
  
[Take them both to the cells until the next tournament tomorrow, maybe we'll have a special one just for them.] The scion mocked the samurai before he turned to head back into the coliseum. Several guards gathered around him, one taking his sword before they nudged him toward the building. Two men picked up the still unconscious bounty hunter to bring her with them. Jack didn't fight back, there were far too many to take on like this. He would just have to wait for his chance...  
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"I can't believe this..." Keela grumbled in despair, watching Reggoth try to repair the wing that had been nearly severed in the fight. "Jack's fighting TWO enemies out there on his own and we're stuck here in the middle of the forest with no way to get to him." The frustration was eating her alive from the inside out, starting with her mind and working its way down to her heart and soul.  
  
"Will you shut your trap? Bitchin' ain't doing anybody any good. I'm trying t'repair the ship, and I could use a HAND here if you don't mind." Reggoth retorted acidly.  
  
"Hey don't you snap at me... you're the one who was supposed to be watching for Samus!" Keela shot back. "God I shouldn't have let him go like that, what was I thinking? He's alone in a city full of people who would gut him on sight. How stupid am I?"  
  
"Pretty stupid, s'if you want t'help him anytime this century, you could always help m'with the ship here. It would g'much faster." Reggoth growled this time, glaring up at her from his position under the ship. Keela sighed and hung her head, pushing herself up off the rock she'd been sitting on.  
  
"You're right... if I want to help him I have to do something... I just hope we can get there fast enough." She sighed and kneeled down to help him with the repairs all she could. Still she couldn't stop blaming herself for putting him in that pod, she should have been smarter than that. Well... all she could do was try to make up for her mistake any way she could.  
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Jack sat on the floor of his cell with his legs crossed under his robe, his hands placed lightly in his lap and his eyes closed. Every sense was alive, every nerve tingling in a rejuvenating trance. His mind fluttered on the breeze of time like a sail on the sea, carrying his body along for the wide. Now though the wind was calmer, not pushing as hard as it normally did.  
  
His eyes snapped open when he heard the door to his cell being opened. Two of the guards flung a woman into the middle of the room hard. She gasped as her hands and knees scraped against the hard cement. She had black shoulder length hair and her skin was unusually pale. She wore little, simply a black undershirt and a pair of dark black panties that did little or nothing to hide her figure. Obviously she saw very few days outside of her suit...  
  
"Greetings again Samus." Jack ventured a well-educated guess to this new woman's identity. His suspicions were confirmed when she glared back at him. "It would seem yet another wayward soul has been deceived by Aku's evil."  
  
"Don't be so self righteous, samurai..." Samus shot back, leaning against the bars of the cell and nursing her bruised limbs. Without her suit her voice was more human, though hardly pretty. Her face also betrayed the line of work she had become so accustomed to, rendering an otherwise beautiful face hard and cold. "I took a job and it backfired, it's not the first time an employer has tried to off me."  
  
"And yet you continue to work for the highest bidder, when the highest bidder is untrustworthy." Jack mused to himself.  
  
"Everyone's untrustworthy, people are lying, arrogant idiots." Samus snorted. "Why else would I help anyone if not for money?"  
  
"Honor, respect, righteousness." Jack replied. Samus narrowed her eyes, studying the warrior closely for a few moments.  
  
"I took a few jobs simply to help people before... and every time I helped them they took advantage of it to dig themselves even deeper into their own hole until finally I stopped coming to help them..." Her deep green eyes stared into Jack's questioning glance, so she continued.   
  
"A long time ago, one of my earlier jobs. My mission was to go to the planet Zebes, and destroy the Metroid... an alien species whose very body radiated with power. I went there and fought waves upon waves of them, they just kept coming. Finally I thought I had wiped them all out, and I left the planet... only to be called by the same people again to investigate another planet. This time I found a baby Metroid, who followed me back to my ship and the science vessel where the scientists took custody of it."  
  
"Only hours later I got another call from the station... they'd tried to recreate the Metroid and harness its power, but it was too much for them. They tried to play god with the power in its body and they couldn't, they failed. I went back to Zebes and cleared it out as best I could but... the child I found died because of those stupid, arrogant people." Samus' eyes bore into those of the samurai, searching for his opinion, be it approval or understanding or hatred. "Once I was done there, someone else tried to harness the power of the Metroid and it all repeated... only this time I didn't respond."  
  
"I see..." Jack closed his eyes, deep in thought.  
  
"How about you, samurai? What do you fight for huh? Another bunch of people who will only dig themselves back into an even deeper pit?" Samus asked.  
  
"I fight for everyone." Jack opened his eyes and stared back as he began his own story.  
  
"Long ago, there was a place where happiness was all that was known, the people there lived their lives in bliss without ever a care, except for one fear. That fear was realized when Aku returned from whatever pit he had been cast into. He enslaved the people and destroyed the city, ravaging even the once bountiful countryside just so they would not have enough food to eat. I was sent away, to hone my skills across the world, outside of the boundaries of Aku's influence that existed then."  
  
"Finally I completed my training and returned to my people. Taking up my family's enchanted sword and going back to my homeland, I faced the wizard in combat. The battle was hard, and his forms were many, but I almost won, I had the sorcerer at my feet. Then, he cast a spell and flung my through a portal in time to now, when there is little I can do against him. His influence taints the hearts of almost everybody and his evil holds dominion." His eyes bore back into hers, perhaps even fiercer than her own had burned moments before. "I fight for my people, for all people... and for my honor. I failed once, but I will not do so again."  
  
"What's the point? They'd probably just destroy themselves anyway." Samus asked.  
  
"Perhaps, but at least they would be free to do SOMETHING." Jack replied, his eyes and voice never wavering from his steady, confident tone. Samus could only stare into his eyes, looking for any sign that he was simply feeding her lies but she couldn't find any. "It seems morning will come soon... we should rest and be ready for whatever comes."  
  
"Yeah... you're right." Samus agreed with a swift nod. She watched him lay down on the hard cement floor since there were no beds or anything for them to lie down on. She gave a soft sigh and lay on the floor as well, huddling herself up into a little ball since it was getting colder and she had very little cover. She would just have to live though, she was a bounty hunter. The cold couldn't hurt her...  
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Early the next morning Samus woke with a start, for a moment forgetting where she was. It took her a moment to regain her bearings, but when she did she looked down in surprise to find a white robe carefully draped over her body. She stared at it a moment, then looked over at the samurai who owned it. He sat leaning against the cell bars, wearing even less than she was underneath the robe. He must have been freezing all night but he'd still given her his robe. If she still had doubts he wasn't from this time, they were gone now. Nobody was so chivalrous these days.  
  
The crimson orange hue of late morning shone through the lone window in the cell as she stood up and walked over to him, carefully draping the open robe over the front of the still sleeping samurai's shoulders. With that she stood upright and stretched her arms out above her head, looking around the much brighter cell now that she had sufficient light to see everything.  
  
There wasn't that much to see, outside the small cell there was a walkway to the front and a dead end to the right. The entrance was to the left and the door was shut, not exactly the most imaginative design. Still it seemed to do its job of keeping them here well enough.  
  
She looked over when she felt someone walking up beside her. Jack stood with his robe on now, looking like he had when they met the other day. Neither of them was particularly embarrassed about any extra skin showing, they both knew that sometimes modesty had to take a backseat.  
  
Before either of them could say anything the door that led into the prison opened and a dozen troops walked in with smug expressions. They opened the door and one gestured for them to come out.  
  
"Come on, the scion wants to see you out in the bowl for your execution... I mean battle." He said with a vicious grin on his face. Samus frowned in disgust, but Jack gave no outward sign of emotion as he started forward, following the guards out of the prison. Samus followed after them though the winding hallways of the coliseum until they emerged onto the field where blood permanently stained the ground. The sun was barely risen, casting an almost blood red shine over everything.  
  
"The samurai first." One of the guards roughly shoved Jack forward while the others held Samus back on the sidelines. The warrior stumbled a moment from the shove, then righted himself and strolled confidently out into the stadium. His eyes scanned everything around him for any sign of the Scion of Strength, but he didn't see anything here.  
  
[Samurai Jack.] He whirled to see the dark, massive form of the scion lurching out onto the field. His eyes pulsed blood red, made even brighter by the crimson sun. [It's about time we met, one-on-one. Don't think I'll be as easy as the Scion of Sight, he was an observer, not a fighter.] The scion taunted him, beckoning him closer with his dark fists.  
  
Samus looked around at the guards surrounding her. They were all intent on the field where Jack and the scion were facing off. It was almost like they couldn't look away, nobody was even watching her. So she took her chance and slunk away from the guards, darting into the building itself once she was clear. Silently she wished Jack luck as she moved through the building.  
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"No matter what you are, you're still evil." Jack countered the scion's taunt with one of his own, raising his fist above his head. "And like your master you will never prevail over the side of righteousness." He said confidently.  
  
[Then come warrior, show me the power of this righteousness.] The Scion took one lumbering step toward the warrior, who took several steps back. For all his talk he knew very well that without his sword he was defenseless. Desperately he shot a glance over to where he'd come in to look for Samus... but she was nowhere to be seen. Where had she gone? Had she abandoned him?  
  
He looked forward again and had to leap back before the scions huge fist could slam into him. He leapt again as the scion pressed the strike, taking every swing he possibly could while the samurai leapt and bounded away. Desperately he leapt forward to plant a solid kick against the dark forms chest, but he had to leap off again with no effect before the scion crushed him right there. He landed heavily on the ground, backing away from the massive shadow and looking around desperately.  
  
[What's the matter, samurai? Where's the power of righteousness now?] The scion taunted him again, feigning a swing and barking out a short laugh. Before he could move any more a high whine split the air, as though something was streaking toward them. An explosion slammed right into the shadows side, sending it stumbling while Jack leapt out of the way.  
  
"Keela! Reggoth!" Jack exclaimed when he saw the small fighter pass by overhead, the smoke from the missile still hanging in the air over them. The fighter flew out into the sky before it circled back, coming back down toward the scion again with its missiles ready.  
  
[Bah, I hate flies.] The scion grabbed the ground and hefted a chunk of cement bigger than its head. He hurled the chunk at the fighter, but they dodged to the side, though they lost their missile lock and streaked by harmlessly.  
  
"Jack!" The samurai turned back to the bleachers at the sound of a garbled, but vaguely human voice. Samus stood in full armor with his sword held at her side. "Catch!" She wound up and hurled the blade as hard as she could toward the warrior. It arched through the air, spinning at it flew. Jack took off at a run to catch it, leaping in the air and grabbing the hilt before he landed in a fighting stance.  
  
[What... NO!] The scion howled when it saw Jack holding the enchanted blade. [Minions! Kill him!] The guards ran toward the samurai, but a blast of energy erupted in front of them, bringing them to a halt. Samus leapt down from the bleachers, kicking up dust as she landed between the warrior and the guards, facing the enemy.  
  
"You take the scion, I got the grunts covered." Samus said with determination clear in her voice. Jack nodded and turned back to the scion, lifting the magical blade in front of him. Even this small act seemed to make the massive shadow cringe.  
  
"It's just you, me, and righteousness now." Jack turned the sharp part of the blade toward the scion, staring at the shadow as he approached it. The Scion of Strength let out a howl of rage and lunged with surprising speed for something of its size, but it still couldn't match the samurai. Jack leapt back from the blow, swinging the blade so that it sliced right into the dark arm horizontally.  
  
The blade nearly sliced the entire hand right in half, pulling a yell of pain from the scion. Jack pressed his advantage, lunging forward and slashing again and again in expert strokes, slicing shadowy tendrils from the massive Scion until the entire frame was shuddering from the strain. The samurai halted a moment, the blade held before him at the ready.  
  
[You... little fool... even if you kill me, the other scions will not go down so easily...] the Scion of Strength clenched his fist, trying to push himself back up to his feet.  
  
"Maybe not easily, but they will go down." Jack raised the sword above his head and brought it down again, slicing the shadowy head clean in half down the center. The shadow surged and shuddered, screaming like a thousand souls howling in unison as it flowed through the coliseum. Finally the shadows vanished, leaving them bathed in the now golden sunlight and nothing else, pure and simple.  
  
Samus halted her own battle as the guards realized what had happened. They looked at the two intruders, then the spot where their master had stood moments before. Finally they just turned and darted out of the coliseum, leaving them alone in the bowl.  
  
Jack walked up to Samus' side as she turned toward him, reaching up and removing her helmet to hold it in the crook of one arm.  
  
"Well you did it Jack, Scion number two down." Samus said.  
  
"Thanks to you, I do not think I could have taken them all." Jack replied.  
  
"It was my fault you got caught in the first place remember?" Samus reminded him. "It was the least I could do I guess, help get you out of here."  
  
"You know Aku will still have a price on my head, you don't intend to collect?" Jack asked curiously.  
  
"After two scions dead? He'll probably double it once word gets back to him..." Samus said softly.  
  
"So... why are you letting me go?" The samurai asked.  
  
"Because... even if I have lost faith in humanity... it's not my place to take away humanity's only hope." The bounty hunter stared into Jacks eyes for a few long moments until they both heard the engine of Keela's fighter approaching them again. "Looks like your ride is here." Samus reached up and placed her helmet back on her head, completely covering herself again.  
  
"Yes, perhaps we will meet again." Jack looked up at the fighter and waved it down at it neared the bowl.  
  
"Perhaps..." Samus agreed in the mechanically garbled voice that always emanated when she was wearing her helmet. With that she shook her head and turned to head toward the entrance of the coliseum.  
  
"Farewell, bounty hunter." Jack called after her with a friendly smile on his face. Samus didn't turn back, but she did wave back at him just before the left the stadium altogether. The samurai smiled and turned back to the fighter right when Keela was getting off to greet him, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Jack, I can't believe you actually did it! You destroyed the scion and drove Samus away!" She exclaimed in wondrous awe.  
  
"Something like that." Jack smiled back and put one hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad to see that you two are alright as well. I had feared you crashed somewhere." He said as he turned to head back into the fighter beside Keela. She replied energetically, happy to have him back and he was relieved to hear her voice again. Still this entire ordeal would leave a mark on his soul, he knew. One so disillusioned humanity became a plague... was it possible to help someone like that? He would figure out the answer eventually, but for now he had another scion to concentrate on. His journey would continue.  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	4. The Scion Of Sin

Part 4: The Scion Of Sin  
  
  
He could feel something welling up inside of him, a vague feeling he could not recognize. It flowed through his mind and body alike, almost as if it was probing him, deep inside in places even he couldn't recognize. It stirred emotions and thoughts deep inside of him, thoughts and emotions he wasn't sure he liked... thoughts and emotions... that were... dark.  
  
Jack's eyes shot open and he sat up in the small makeshift bed, instantly alert and confused. He could still feel the thoughts turning in his mind, the dark feeling twisting in his stomach. He put one hand on his forehead and panted softly, trying to clear his mind. Still they persisted however, and his gaze was drawn to the side where Keela was asleep in her own makeshift bed. They were supposed to reach the Century Station soon where the next Scion was, so they had decided to get some sleep in shifts. It was Reggoth's turn to keep an eye on things at the moment.  
  
He pushed the thin blanket off of him and crawled across the metal floor toward the sleeping woman, his hands shaking. He stared down at her in a mixture of eagerness and reluctance, not even sure why he was acting this way. He knew he should move back... but the feeling in his mind would not let up.  
  
Fortunately the ships intercom began to buzz before he could move any farther, waking Keela with a start. Jack yanked his hand back as she sat up, looking up at him with an odd look on her face. Neither of them said anything, Keela instead reaching up to activate the intercom.  
  
"Yeah, what is it?" She asked.  
  
"We're approaching Cyrus Station. We'll b'there in thirty minutes." Reggoth's voice came back.  
  
"Acknowledged..." Keela turned off the intercom and looked up at Jack, who had his head bowed.  
  
"I apologize... I do not know what came over me..." He told her.  
  
"Don't worry about it, I can feel it too... the Scion of Sin... even all the way out here I can feel his power corrupting my mind." She pushed herself up on the bed, looking over at Jack wondrously. "But you... I thought your sword made you immune to the scion's powers."  
  
"I thought so as well." Jack replied thoughtfully. "Yet it would seem I am not anymore... this troubles me. Could the scions be getting more powerful?" The samurai asked.  
  
"I don't know, that is a good question. One we should try to answer once we get to the station, before we confront the scion." Keela said, standing up and stretching out the kinks in her muscles. "Come on, let's head up to the bridge, before this control makes us do something we'll regret." She turned and left the makeshift bedroom with Jack right behind her, holding the hilt of his sword worriedly.  
  
"I assume y'two feel it too." Reggoth told them, looking back at them from his seat in the pilots chair. "It's gonna b'hell once w'actually get t'the station, opportunities all around for distractions."  
  
"We'll do what we must." Jack told him, walking up to watch the screen. A giant space station floated almost serenely against the blanket of space around it. Jack could feel the energy radiating from the center of the station, invading his mind, body, and indeed, even his very soul. It was a terrible feeling, but he knew it wouldn't end until he had destroyed this scion.  
  
"Jack... once we get there, there are a few things you have to know." Keela said, turning to meet the samurai's gaze squarely. "People do things on that station... evil, corrupt things even to others, taking advantage of them and hurting them... but don't try to help them. Everyone living there is corrupted completely by the scion's power, and even the victims won't hesitate to stab you in the back right after you free them."  
  
"I see." Jack nodded. "A wise warning, I suppose the only way to help anyone here is to get rid of the scion's influence once and for all." He looked out the front screen again, watching as they neared the station.  
  
"Alright, everyone take a seat. We're going in for a landing." Reggoth announced. Jack and Keela quickly took their seats and strapped themselves in while Reggoth guided the small fighter down toward one of the airlocks on the side of the station. He radio'd into the control tower that they were looking for a vacation spot, since this was officially just that.  
  
They flew into the hangar bay, filled with dozens of other ships already set down. The small fighter flew into one of the few empty docking bays and set down gently, the door on the side opening automatically. There were several other pilots scattered around milling about their own ships, but nothing that looked too threatening.  
  
"You two remain here while I investigate." Jack told them, heading toward the door. He was halted in mid-stride by Keela's hand on his arm, holding him back.  
  
"I'll come with you." Jack turned to look back at her, looking into her eyes. He could see her fighting just to keep herself under control, fighting some urges that were slowly eating away at her self-control. Jack shook his head and put one hand on her shoulder, that little contact sending an electric thrill through his body.  
  
"Stay here, my sword protects me at least marginally, but it does not protect you. I will be fine, I give you my word." He told her, staring back into her eyes with enough confidence and firmness to calm any fears she might have had. Keela nodded and moved back, pulling his hand off of her shoulder. Whether this was incidental or intentional Jack couldn't tell.  
  
"Just be careful, there are a lot of killers and... worse things out there." Keela reminded him. Jack nodded and smiled back reassuringly before he turned to leave the small ship. He walked down the small platform, then across the metal panels toward the entrance to the station proper. Some of the pilots gave him a curious glance, but none bothered him.  
  
The main chambers were full of merchants and vendors lining the walkways, selling anything they could get their hands on. Some sold items that they even claimed were stolen from others, while others sold what looked like alien body parts. The samurai paused as he took in the sights. He'd been prepared for corruption and trickery, but not these blatant displays of cruelty and heartlessness.  
  
Finally the samurai made himself move forward, walking amid the various vendors and artifacts for sale. Even those browsing the stalls acted more like dogs scrounging for things they liked than men, doing whatever crossed their mind at any given moment. More than one fight started for no reason but the price of a given item. Jack wanted to intervene and stop the madness, but he knew he wouldn't last long trying to stop everything that was happening here.  
  
"Hey buddy, want a ride?" Jack whirled when he felt someone tugging on his robe. A wrinkled, hunched over alien stared up at him, holding a little girl by the arm beside him. She stared up at Jack with a blank look on her face, wearing little more than a thin paper gown. "Just twenty teracins, no better deals or cuter rides around here." The alien told him.  
  
Jack stared down at him, feeling his blood boiling. He knew he should just leave, getting rid of the scion was top priority and doing that would help get rid of people like this... but he could not walk away from something like this.  
  
"Let her go..." Jack demanded in a hushed whisper, staring down at the alien.  
  
"Hey no reason to get like that, I'll even give you a discount if you want." The alien replied reasonably.  
  
Without a word Jack drew his sword and slashed downward, slicing off the arm that had been holding the girl. The alien screamed in a rage and leapt to his feet, standing far taller than one would have thought from the aged looking figure.  
  
"I said, let her go." Jack repeated, holding the enchanted blade at his side as he stared up at the massive figure. Several of the other vendors stood and began to wander over from their own booths, looking upset and bringing their own weapons to bear.  
  
"Arrogant, worthless, impudent, foolish little pachton!" The alien screamed angrily, bringing it's other surprisingly large arm up above its head. "I'll crush you like a worm!" It swung its fist down in a wide arc right on top of the samurai, but he leapt to the side to avoid the strike, rolling into a defensive crouch a few feet away.  
  
He gasped in surprise and pain when the little girl he'd just freed stabbed his sword hand with a small dagger, making him drop the blade reflexively. She grabbed the hilt of the blade and turned to run off, taking his sword with her.  
  
"Hey, wait!" Jack started to pursue, but several more combatants lunged at him from all sides, bringing their own fists, claws, and weapons around to strike at him. He dodged backward, deflecting a few punches with the back of his arm before he leapt back, landing on one booth with a thump when he hit the wood. He grabbed one of the vertical poles on the side and kicked the bottom, freeing it.  
  
He twirled the makeshift staff in his hands, ignoring the pain of his wound as one of the aliens lunged at him. He leapt from the booth over the alien, slamming the staff into the back of its head as he came down to the ground. He didn't wait to watch it hit the booth before he whirled, deflecting several more strikes from others.  
  
He slammed the side of the staff into the alien's lance, carrying it over him to jam it into the chest of another alien that had been coming up behind him. He slammed the butt of the staff into the first aliens stomach, doubling it over before he slammed the center of the staff into his head, sending him tumbling to the ground.  
  
He whirled the staff above his head, sweeping it around him in wide arcs periodically to keep the rest of his attackers at a safe distance. He brought it down quickly when a smaller alien tried to lunge with a knife. The piece of wood slammed into the side of his head, sending him to the ground while several others tried to capitalize.  
  
Jack used the staff like a pole-vault to leap over one of the aliens, whirling to sweep one alien's legs out from under him before the samurai backed away from the hostiles, keeping the staff moving in front of him. He turned to sprint away from them suddenly, clutching the staff in one hand, but several of his opponents lunged after him again.  
  
Jack leapt from booth to booth, disrupting things all around to the point where everyone seemed to be fighting with everyone else. Whenever one of the aliens would take a swipe at him Jack slammed the staff into their head or used it as a prop while he planted a solid kick in their face until he reached the other side of the main chamber.  
  
He stopped and whirled, taking out those few pursuers that managed to get through the crowd before he turned to look out over the brawl he had started. The entire room was engulfed in a wild melee, with everyone trying to main everyone else. He didn't see the little girl in there anywhere, she must have made it out before he started a riot.  
  
The adrenaline in his body seemed to keep the effects of the scion at bay for now, but he had to find that girl and his sword before it became too strong for him to ignore. He turned away from the brawl and hefted the staff to his shoulder as he left the room, searching for the girl with his enchanted sword.  
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Keela sat in the seat Jack normally took behind the pilots and copilots seats, hugging herself though she couldn't fight off the feelings that kept sweeping through her. Her entire body was tingling, her mind aflame with ideas and thoughts that she knew she didn't truly want. She tried to concentrate on anything she could, but still the urges crept back.  
  
She looked up when Reggoth walked back in from the back, carrying a few drinks from his personal cooler. She could see he was struggling with the same feelings he was, fighting them back with less success than she. She was nervous around him, and at the same time excited in ways she knew wasn't natural for her. She didn't know how long she could take this.  
  
She looked up at the radar in the cockpit when it picked up an incoming signal, moving toward them quickly. "Reggoth, what could that..." She was cut off when something slammed into the side of the ship, sending both its occupants flying against the wall.  
  
"Whatever it is, it isn't friendly!" Reggoth exclaimed, pushing himself away from the wall and lunging for the controls. Keela jumped in the copilots seat just before another wave slammed into them, toppling the entire ship over onto its side. The left wing was bent back with the screech of metal on metal as it tore into the floor. Keela and Reggoth were thrown against the wall again, lying on it as the thing kept rolling.  
  
"We have to get out of this ship!" Keela exclaimed, pushing herself to her feet and running for the door, which was now on the bottom. She tried to kick it open, but it was flat against the ground. Something slammed into the other wall above them, punching the metal inward.  
  
Finally the thing punched through the metal and dropped into the ship with them, landing on its feet in a crouch and looking around at them. It didn't look like a minion of Aku, or anyone with any kind of security detail. It was likely just a thief, but one who was very good at what he does.  
  
"Get out o'here you behemoth!" Reggoth yanked a laser pistol from his belt and opened fire, striking the thing in the chest several times. It roared angrily and lunged at him, swinging one massive fist.  
  
"Reggoth!" Keela screamed. Reggoth tried to move, but the creature was surprisingly fast for all its bulk. The massive fist slammed into Reggoth's stomach, carrying him back against the controls, embedding him within the twisted and mangled steel of the control panel. Sparks flew every which way as he looked down at his body, embedded within the twisted steel.  
  
"God damn... can't die s'suddenly... without a fight..." He tried to push himself up from the console, but another blow drove him even deeper into the mass of steel with an exclamation of pain. The massive fist closed around him and pulled him back, flinging his practically limp body toward the front windshield of the fighter. It plunged through the glass, slamming into the cold metal ground outside, unmoving.  
  
"No! Damnit!" Keela backed away slowly as the hulking form turned toward her, raising one fist toward her. She couldn't see any escape route, and no way to avoid the massive hand. She would just have to pray.  
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Jack walked through the almost mazelike hallways, following the light scratch in the metal plating where the girl had dragged the enchanted sword. It was obviously too big for her to carry properly, and the enchanted blade was able to cut a light scratch in the steel despite simply being dragged over it. The samurai turned a corner, barely leaping back before he was cut in half with his own blade.  
  
"Stop following me!" The girl howled, straining to swing the sword again in a wide, clumsy arc. Jack stepped back without difficulty, dodging every swing the girl could make. Finally she managed to heft the sword back and bring it down in an overhead swing in a strike that would have cut the warrior in half right down the center.  
  
The samurai put his hands up and caught the blade between his palms, holding it up in front of him. He lifted his hands up, hefting the light little girl up off the ground with it since she refused to let go. She squirmed in mid-air trying to break free, but he held the blade fast.  
  
"Let go! It's mine fair and square, let go right now!" The girl yelled angrily.  
  
"Why are you doing this? I just freed you from your enslavement." Jack shook the blade to dislodge the girl, who fell to the ground with a thump. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest indignantly, glaring up at him like he'd just cursed her.  
  
"Freed me? You cost me one of the best jobs I've had here, do you know what kind of money idiots pay just for the thrill of doing something they shouldn't?" The girl shot back.  
  
"I see what Keela's warning meant when she said even the victims are subject to the scion's powers." Jack slid the sword back in its sheathe at his side, leaving one hand resting on the pommel. "Tell me, do you know your way around this station?"  
  
"Psh, no, I've lived here my entire life with my eyes shut." The girl rolled her eyes, smirking.  
  
"Can you help me get back to the hangar bay without going back through the main corridor again? I need to speak with my companions." Jack asked.  
  
"If you got to the main corridor from your hangar, you must have been in docking area 6. I wouldn't worry about your ship, it's probably scrap by now, and the crew dead." The girl told him.  
  
"What are you talking about? Why do you say such things?" Jack demanded incredulously.  
  
"The Poriscin, a giant who serves the scion that lives on this station. He keeps people the scion doesn't like out of the station. Or if they get on, he makes sure they don't leave." The girl replied, almost not seeming to care one way or another. Jack walked up to her, towering over the little girl who just continued to stare up at him with defiance shining in her eyes.  
  
"Can you help me get back to my ship and find my companions?" He put one hand on the girls shoulder. "Please."  
  
"Give me the sword when we find them... and we have a deal." The girl bargained, holding up one hand. Jack stared down at her, his eyes narrowing in worry and concern.  
  
"Very well, but we must get back as soon as possible." Jack took her hand and shook it, sealing the deal between them.  
  
"Great, come on, we can use the aeroducts." The girl walked up to one wall and tapped on the piece of metal, listening intently. When she found one with a hollow sound she slammed the palm of her hand against it, bending the metal inward to reveal a small ducts that led deeper into the wall.  
  
"What is your name?" Jack asked politely.  
  
The girl looked back at him with a small smirk spread across her lips. "Sarah. Now are you coming or not?" She asked, turning to crawl into the duct before he could respond. Jack followed her into the narrow passage, crawling through the ship right behind her for what felt like an eternity. Finally they emerged into a small chamber with a desk set up in the middle and chairs arranged around it.  
  
"Ssshhh!" Sarah demanded, crawling out of the hole and signaling for Jack to stay put. She got up and ran over to the door, opening it a crack and peeking through before she gestured for the warrior to join her. Jack crawled out of the duct and walked over to her calmly with his hand on the hilt of his sword. "The hangar is down this hall and to the right, but if the Poriscin is around we won't make it through the door."  
  
"We will have to take our chances, it is obvious by now that the scion knows we are here, and that is my fault for starting a riot. I cannot let them be hurt because of me." Jack told her seriously.  
  
"Stubborn... alright come on... follow me." Sarah slipped through the crack in the door and looked both ways before darting down the hall, her light step barely making a sound over the metal plating. The samurai followed her just as silently, his light step making only a soft clanking sound against the hard steel floor.  
  
Sarah ran up to the door and thrust it open, barging inside. She skidded to a halt just before she could slam head first into a massive hulking figure. "Oh f*ck me..." She murmured fearfully, taking a few steps backward. Jack ran in behind her, staring up at the figure. He could see he had someone clutched in the palm of one hand, a body he recognized.  
  
"Keela!" Jack stepped forward, drawing the enchanted blade from its scabbard and dropping into a fighting stance. Sarah gaped at him in surprise, grabbing the sleeve of his robe.  
  
"Are you nuts? You can't fight that thing!" Sarah told him.  
  
"I cannot let it take her." Jack said, holding his ground as the giant lumbered toward him, glaring down at him threateningly. Jack raised the blade in front of him, his gaze flitting between the giant's face and Keela held unconscious in one massive hand. Sarah shook her head and turned to run out into the hall away from the thing without another word.  
  
"Outta my way." The giant demanded, bringing one fist up threateningly.  
  
"Put her down, she has done nothing to you." The samurai demanded, hefting the blade up in front of him. "It's me the scion would truly want, not her. So come try to take me." The giant stared down at him, then looked down at the unconscious woman in his hand. Without warning he flung Keela at Jack, sending her arcing through the air dangerously.  
  
Jack slid his sword into its scabbard and leapt into the air, catching her before she could fly past him and hit the wall. While he was occupied however the Poriscin shot its fist forward, slamming it into both of them while they were defenseless. Jack's back slammed into the wall in the hallway with a sharp gasp of pain.  
  
He knelt down painfully and put Keela on the steel floor, looking up at the giant as it lumbered toward him again, bringing one massive fist back. Jack leapt into the air and drew the enchanted sword again, bringing it around in a wide silver arc. The giant halted its own blow to let the blade streak by before it brought its other fist around.  
  
Jack whirled and slashed again, slicing off two fingers from the hand that was heading toward him. The giant roared in fury and brought its other fist around, but Jack leapt over it, lunging for the head with his sword lowered in a striking position. Before he could bring the blade around he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his side, throwing off his concentration.  
  
The giant brought its fist back, backfisting the warrior with enough force to send him flying against the steel wall. He hit the floor with a gasp of pain, looking down at his side. There was a small dagger embedded in it, one that looked strikingly familiar. He looked up at Sarah standing down the hall watching him, still poised to have thrown the dagger.  
  
The samurai shook his head and tried to drag himself to his feet, but the Poriscin slammed another fist into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the metal floor again. His entire body was wracked with stinging pain, unable to move or think properly. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the little girl watching him with a victorious smile on her face.  
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"So I get the reward right? I did lead him to the Poriscin." Sarah's voice cut through Jack's pain filled mind, the first thing that had been able to for a long time. The samurai opened his eyes and raised his head to look around. He could see the little girl standing in front of what resembled a throne, but there was nobody occupying it.  
  
[Of course child, the one who captures the warrior gets the reward.] A soft, almost feminine voice leaked into Jacks mind, as well as the mind of the little girl. [You've done very well.] jack looked over as a pair of shadows moved into the room, carrying two bags between them. Sarah grinned when she saw it, rubbing her hands together. [They will help you take it back to your dwelling, now leave us be.]  
  
Sarah started to follow the shadows out of the room, but she stopped and turned to look over at Jack, realizing he was conscious. "Hey, can I have his sword?" She asked.  
  
[Aku wants it.] The scion replied, though it was still nowhere in sight. Sarah sighed in disappointment, but turned to leave with the shadows without another word, shutting the door behind her. Jack tried to follow, or move at all, but he found his legs and arms were bound by some dark substance or energy, he couldn't tell which.  
  
"You have tainted her with your powers, you will not get away with it." Jack said defiantly. Even as he spoke he could feel his stomach beginning to twist and turn more violently than ever, his mind being turned upside down with thoughts and urges he'd never imagined.  
  
[I didn't have to taint her, warrior. It's the nature of sentients to desire, it's what sets them apart. Desire power, physical things, lust, it's all the same... and it's always there.] Jack looked up, staring in surprise as the dark, pulsing figure of the scion climbed down upon a tendril of dark power. Its shape was almost like that of a small frail female torso perched at the front of a spiders abdomen, the six legs nimbly climbing down the rope in front of him. Its gleaming red eyes bore into his, practically turning his heart inside out with feelings and urges.  
  
"No... you're wrong..." Jack replied, his entire body shaking with the force of his resistance. "People are good, they do not hurt others so wantonly." He glared up at the scion as it reached the ground, walking up to him. "Unless they're under the control of an evil one."  
  
[Can you be so sure? How many bounty hunters have you encountered, warrior? A dozen? Two? All of them with one thing on their minds... their own pleasure.] The scion put one clawed hand on his cheek, her claws digging into his flesh lightly. [Money can buy many things... but I can give you so much more. Aku wants you dead, but I think you could be a great help to us.]  
  
"Evil... will NEVER win over righteousness..." Jack insisted, not looking directly at her now. He stared straight ahead at the wall beyond, his eyes never wavering despite the struggle in his heart and mind.  
  
[What about you?] The scion asked innocently, looking over to Jack's side. [What about her?] Jack looked over to see Keela strapped up by a set of dark tendrils similar to the ones that held the samurai up. The scion leaned in close to him, her voice in his mind little more than a whisper. [Do you want to know why it feels like my power sways you despite your swords protection?] She asked him softly, her voice tantalizing. [Because I had nothing to do with it. It was your own desire, your own lust that drove you.]  
  
Jack remained silent, his eyes cold and hard, trying to block out everything that was being said. [You can have her, and anything else you desire... and you desire much I can tell.] Jack clenched his eyes shut, his entire body shaking as the sweat poured from his brow. [All sentients do, it is nothing to be ashamed of, all you have to do is take what you want. It will bring you so much more happiness and satisfaction than this pointless war you wage against my master.]  
  
"I may have desires..." Jack admitted, opening his eyes to glare at the scion with a death glare. "But I will never succumb to them... and I will never succumb to you." He stared at her for a long time, in a contest of wills neither could ever hope to win. Neither would ever give up.  
  
[A pity, then I suppose it's plan B.] The scion brought one fist back to backfist Jack across the face, jerking his head to the side painfully and rendering him unconscious in a single blow. He tried to retain his senses, but he found he couldn't fight the darkness that crept over him.  
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Sarah smiled contentedly to herself as she watched the shadows lug her newly gained fortune into her personal quarters on board the station. She'd been making her own way on this station as long as she could remember, taking what she could get her hands on by any means necessary. It wasn't the most comfortable life, especially with some kinds of customers, but she lived very well for her trouble.  
  
"Hmm... what should I buy first?" She grabbed a handful of small coins and smiled. This little bit alone could have kept her fed for a week, the bags meant she was set for life. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to have that warrior around for awhile. He was practically fearless, an incredible fighter, and very, very handsome.  
  
If only the scion didn't want to keep him for itself. She might have wanted to hire him as a bodyguard or a closer companion. It wouldn't do to fret about it now though, the scion would kill him and she would never have to worry about it again.  
  
Why should she let the scion have him though? Why should she give up the samurai, she was the one who managed to lure him into a trap after even Aku himself could never succeed. She deserved to have him under her wing, she'd earned that right. Plus she now had enough money to hire an entire army if she had to, she could take him back.  
  
"Time to take this station under MY wing." She said to herself, grabbing several handfuls of coins and jamming them into her pockets. She would need a lot of soldiers if she was going to try to fight through the scions army, but she knew from the rumors going around that only the warrior himself could destroy the shadows and the scion. She would just have to arrange that too, why not, she could do anything.  
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A fierce, throbbing pain permeated Jack's consciousness, wracking his entire body. He couldn't move his body, he was too weak and still held down by the dark energy bonds that had been holding him since his capture. Even his mind didn't escape the pain, the scions powers tearing into his consciousness, threatening to tear apart every shred of decency and honor he had built up within himself. He refused to give up, but the more he struggled the more painful the fight became.  
  
A strangled scream erupted from his throat as he squirmed on the floor, pulling at the tendrils of power that bound him. He didn't know how long he'd been there, a couple days, a week maybe. Or maybe just a few hours, minutes, seconds, it didn't really matter. All he knew was his determination to not let evil win, he would not give in to the Scion of Sin...  
  
"Jack." He opened his eyes, looking through a feverish haze up at a figure with pale blue skin above him. Keela's pure white skin reflected the little light there was, almost giving her a kind of glowing essence around her. Her ocean blue eyes stared into his as she brushed the fingers of one hand against his cheek. The touch felt cool against his feverish skin. "Jack please tell me you're okay, I've been so worried."  
  
"Keela..." Jack whispered in a daze, struggling to make his eyes focus in the dim light. He felt her hand stroking his cheek, her body shifting as she knelt down closer to him. "Are you... well?" He asked urgently.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine Jack, I've come to help you..." She knelt down even closer to him, her face mere inches from his, smiling in a gentle, almost loving way. "Don't worry, I promise I'll free you, no matter what..." Her face neared his, her lips inches from Jacks own. He gulped and tried to clear his eyes, feeling that temptation twisting in his stomach and mind at once. Her lips were so close, comfort was coming toward him, it would be so easy to kiss her, and take his happiness... heaven after this hell...  
  
"No!" In one burst of strength he shoved her back, though not very far since his hands were still strapped down. He screamed in pain as the surge roared through his body and mind even more viciously than before. He struggled against his bonds, his eyes shut tight against the pain. He ignored whoever was in the cell with him now, he refused to give in... he would sooner die than give away his honor for some physical desire...  
  
So he lay on the floor, writhing in agony made even worse by the knowledge that he could end it at any time by just taking his desires to heart. It would be so easy, happiness could be his, everything the deepest, darkest parts of his heart could want... but instead he lay in pain. Fighting himself, a more vicious opponent than any other.  
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The silence seemed palpable, as if one could cut it with a knife as a tall, stalwart figure crept through the installation. His left arm ended in a stump only an inch down from the shoulder, and he moved with a heavy limp on his left leg, but he moved with all the silence of a morning breeze. He swept up to the entrance of the prison cells. He knew where it was after spending the last several days gaining intelligence.  
  
He pulled a gun from its holster at his side and kicked the door open, opening fire the moment it was out of the way. The gunshots rang through the air like lightning crashes, several bullets finding their mark. The guards fell to the ground limp before they could even realize what was happening. He lowered the gun to his side, not really caring. He wasn't a killer, but he'd gained a lot of new abilities in the last few days.  
  
He put the gun in its holster, walking over to the control panel behind the desk to open the cells in the next room. He went into the back and walked between the cells, looking for one particular prisoner.  
  
"Keela, you coming?" The gruff voice asked, even harsher than it had been just a few days ago. Keela sat up, staring up at him in stunned, but pleasant surprise.  
  
"Reggoth!? What are you doing here!? I saw that thing kill you... didn't it?" She exclaimed, leaping up to exit the cell, almost as if she expected it to lock itself again.  
  
"Almost." Reggoth looked down at the missing stump of his arm, then back up at Keela. He knew he looked different, being thrown through a windshield would wreak havoc with anyone's complexion. Thank God for advanced medical technology. "Come on, w'have t'find Jack. There are already friends looking for him, but I want t'find him first if w'can. W'still have t'pick him up, after all."  
  
"Of course... do you know where he's being held exactly?" Keela asked worriedly.  
  
"Yeah, it seems Jack managed t'make a friend just in the few minutes h'wandered free." Reggoth shook his head smirking. "Don't know what it is about the guy, people just like him. Come on." He turned to head down the hall as fast as he could with his limp. Keela hurried along behind him, helping him when it looked like he would fall. They couldn't leave Jack here, no way in Hell.  
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Sarah didn't worry about the security cameras she knew were monitoring her progress. Most denizens of the station were too scared of the scion to act out against it, but most of them didn't know Jack was here... and most of them didn't know where the sword was kept. Being young and a girl had its advantages, especially in a place where the forbidden was sought after. She had access to many things, including information, that nobody else did.  
  
She walked confidently through the halls, once in a while checking the small mechanical map she had strapped to her wrist. Her newfound wealth allowed her to prepare well, she had a satellite she bought recently to monitor where she was and where everything else was. She could even call in her small army of mercenaries from here. She would have preferred more time to prepare, but she didn't know how long the samurai would be kept alive.  
  
She pushed open the door to the weapons storage locker, where the local authorities kept weapons that were deemed to powerful for the general public to be trusted with. The sword was somewhere among them, but the guards turned to stop her when she entered.  
  
"Hey kid, why don't you get out of here huh? Go see mommy." The guard taunted her, taking out his pistol to pretend to polish it. Obviously they weren't very fond of people, as if anybody on the station was.  
  
"Gee, sorry misters, guess you got lost, I'll help you find your way." Sarah replied, sounding as sweet and innocent as any girl her age. The guards thought about that for a minute with puzzled expressions on their faces. When they looked back down at her she already had a gun pointed at them. "You haven't found Hell yet, I'll show you the way." She pulled the trigger several times, the bullets plunging into the guards and sending them to the floor, limp.  
  
She put the gun in its holster and walked up to the rack behind them, looking up and down for the white gleam of Jack's blade. Finally she found it and wrapped it in a blanket she'd brought for just that purpose. She slung it over her shoulder and turned to leave, leaving the guards lying on the ground. It didn't matter if they were found, it wouldn't happen before the scion was gone and she was in charge.  
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He could feel the wetness of a cold rag being pressed against his forehead. It felt wonderful, relief from the bitter agonizing heat and pain that wracked his body. He knew this was no disease however, but the scions power fighting to push its way into his mind. He could hear Keela's voice talking to him every now and then. She kept trying to kiss him, but each time he pushed her away, and each time the pain came back, worse and worse.  
  
He opened his mouth and greedily drank in the moisture when she let a few drops of water fall onto his mouth. His mind was a flurry of random thoughts and images, his body twisted and useless from the sheer force of the pain. He barely took note of her putting the rag down and lowering her lips toward his again, whispering into his ear lovingly. He knew the moment he let her kiss him, he would be overcome by his desires and the pain...  
  
"Stop it... stop..." Jack pushed her away again, his resulting scream echoing off of the steel walls like a wild animals howl. He clawed at the metal floor, arched his back, anything to try to lesson the pain. He knew there was only one thing though... and right now, he was almost beyond caring about his pride or his honor.  
  
"Please Jack, stop hurting yourself... I love you, you know I always have." Keela's voice told him as she knelt down toward him again. He didn't resist, he was too weak both physically and mentally, he could not fight anymore. Her lips moved so close to his he could feel her breath on his cheek, feel her hand snaking around his torso.  
  
The door crashed open and three people marched in, two lifting guns while the other just stared down at Jack in concern. "Jack, are you okay!?" It was Keela's voice... but wasn't she standing over him?  
  
"Ragh, I hate interruptions!" The Keela who had been about to kiss him stood up, clenching her fists angrily. Her eyes flashed crimson red, her skin fading from Keela's pale white to pure dark energy. [I'll kill all three of you and then finish making Jack my own, personal, slave.]  
  
"If he's anybody's slave he's mine! I found him first!" Sarah's voice shouted back indignantly.  
  
[You intend to take him, you traitorous little pipsqueak? You and what army?] She demanded.  
  
"This one." Sarah reached down and pressed a button on what looked like a watch on her wrist. They could all hear the sounds of battle and combat coming from outside the room, for the moment still outside the complex. "They'll be here in only a few minutes, your defenses are very weak for one of Aku's perfect minions."  
  
[I don't need defenses.] The scion raised one clawed hand in front of her, summoning several shadows, which rose from the metal plating in front of the three would-be heroes. "You'll all be dead either way, whether by human hand or my hand!" She exclaimed.  
  
"I don't think so!" Reggoth pulled his pistol and aimed at the shadows, but he stopped when he felt a rush of wind flowing past him fro behind. He turned around slowly to see the giant from before behind him, summoned by the commotion. "Son of a b..." He didn't have time to finish when he was punched in the face, sending him hurtling across the room.  
  
"Jack, get up!" Sarah unwrapped the bundle and hurled the gleaming blade toward the warrior. It slammed into one of the dark chains that bound him, interrupting the flow of power and disintegrating all four chains. Jack looked up at the sword, but he was still too drained to get up and wield it.  
  
[No!] The scion tried to grab the blade, but her hand burst in a shower of dark power, accompanied by a pain-filled shriek. She lunged back, holding the stump where her hand had once been. [That sword! No matter, I can still kill YOU!] She lifted her remaining claw above her head, glaring down at the fallen samurai, but Keela tackled her to the ground from the side.  
  
"You want to steal my face you manipulative little witch!?" She screamed, trying to slam her fists into the scions head. The scion simply thrust her away and climbed to her shadowy feet, watching her shadows surround Keela. "Can't fight me yourself now huh!?"  
  
Sarah leapt away from the door and ran over to the side of the room, pulling her gun and aiming it at the giant by the door, and any of the shadows that dared to venture too close. The bullets didn't seem to have any impact on any of them, bouncing off or flying through harmlessly. She cursed herself silently, pressing the button on her watch again.  
  
"Oy..." Reggoth stumbled to his feet, clutching his head. He reached down and removed his gun from its holster, raising it to aim it at the giant as it advanced on him, not even feeling Sarah's attack. "You want a re-match you blindsiding bastard? Come on!" He opened fire, watching as his own bullets bounced off of its thick skin harmlessly.  
  
Everyone was thrown off guard when Sarah's reinforcements came pouring into the room, plunging into combat with the shadows that littered the room and the giant. Instantly the entire crowd was plunged into an uncontrollable melee between the humans and aliens, and the shadows. Still the attackers didn't have a chance, they couldn't even hurt the shadows.  
  
"Uhn..." Jack grunted in pain as he pushed himself over onto his stomach, reaching up toward the hilt of his sword. He screamed again when he felt the scion begin to tear at his mind again, ripping into him without any intent to change him or seduce him, she was out for blood now. He screamed from the depths of his throat and fell to the ground again, curling up in a ball on the steel floor.  
  
"Stop it!" Keela screamed, dodging through the shadows that attacked her to throw herself at the scion again. The scion gripped her throat and pushed her away again to hold her at arms length, her clawed fist crushing the pale woman's throat. Jack watch this from his position on the floor, then tried to get up again, reaching for his sword.  
  
[Forget it warrior, you will never get it!] The scion tore into his mind again, drawing a blood-curdling scream from him. Still he didn't stop or back down this time, he screamed a howl of fury and pain as his hand inched even closer to the blade. His very soul felt like it was being torn to pieces, shredded beyond all sense of recognition until, finally, his fingers closed around the hilt of the enchanted blade.  
  
Pure white power surged through him, cleansing him of the dark influence of the scion as he leaned against it, the power fading into his body. He panted with the strain of simply climbing to his feet, keeping his eyes closed as he stood. He pulled the blade of the sword out of the steel ground and held it before him, raised to fight. When he opened his eyes he was staring straight at the scion.  
  
"Enough games..." The samurai said, moving toward her. Several shadows lunged at him from either side, but one swipe from the blade tore each of them in half before they could land a blow. The scion backed away from him, still holding Keela in front of her.  
  
[Poriscin! Kill him!] The Scion of Sin commanded, pointing at the samurai. Jack whirled in time to see the giant barreling through the crowd, crushing and tossing aside shadow and man alike in its haste to get to him. Jack turned and held the sword before him, waiting patiently until the giant prepared to strike.  
  
The samurai leapt into the air without warning, startling the giant out of any assault it may have attempted to make. He sailed through the air with his sword poised to strike, flying toward the giants' head. In one swift slash that fight was already over. The giants body tumbled to the ground, crushing several figures under the weight.  
  
[Stay back warrior, I will kill her!] The scion exclaimed as Jack turned toward her again, moving toward her. "Do you really want to see her head separate from her body?" The scion clamped one hand around Keela's throat, tightening her claw warningly.  
  
"You will not kill her." Jack told her, still holding the sword in front of him. "You will face justice for your crimes." He hesitated when the scion twisted her claw slightly, jerking Keela's head to the side with a grimace of pain.  
  
[Justice... or revenge? You are as evil as I, your heart is dark, why won't you admit it!?] The scion asked. Before Jack could respond something whizzed by his ear from behind him, flying with unerring accuracy toward the scions hand. A tiny dagger plunged into the dark ones hand, not enough to do any real damage, but the pain and suddenness made her loosen her grip.  
  
Keela whirled, slamming her elbow into the side of the scions head and throwing herself away from the dark woman. Jack lunged the second his path was clear, bringing the silver sword up to bring it down on the scion. She raised her arms protectively, and shrieked in pain and fury when both were severed, sending tendrils of dark power scattering throughout the room.  
  
Jack landed and stood before the scion, who glared up at him hatefully from the ground. "Do you see what happens when evil reigns?" Jack gestured back toward Sarah, who had thrown the dagger that had freed Keela. "It turns in on itself and brings about its own downfall. I may have dark emotions, but I am led by the side of righteousness, and from it I will never stray."  
  
[Curse you samurai...] The Scion of Sin growled, sounding very much like the ancient sorcerer from whom she'd been born. Jack raised the sword above his head without another word and brought it down, cleaving the dark form of the scion in half. She let out an almost animalistic scream as the dark power surged forth into the room. When it finally dissipated the shadows, and the body of the giant, were gone.  
  
"What... what's going on?" One of the mercenaries scattered around the room asked, looking around. He looked down at his hands to see a gun held in them, looking confused and bewildered.  
  
"They don't remember anything..." Keela commented.  
  
"After living under the scions shadow, they were under her complete control. She never realized however that some may become even greedier than she thought, and try to overthrow even HER." Jack looked over at Sarah, who didn't look as confused as the others, but just as thoughtful and almost wondrous as she stared down at her hands. "Evil turns in on itself, and ultimately, it is destroyed by its own hand."  
  
"That's three scions down." Reggoth told them, walking up to them. He had several wounds covering his body. He looked over at Jack and Keela with a confident glint in his eyes. "We're on a role. I think w'should b'able t'find some way off o'this ship, should w'go ahead and get going? Let these people rediscover themselves?"  
  
"Wait a little while." Jack said, surprising the other two. Without another word the samurai walked over to stand behind the little girl, who was sitting on the floor, staring down at her hands with an almost blank expression on her face. "Are you okay, young one?"  
  
"What... what am I feeling...?" Sarah turned around to look up at him. She had tears welling up in her eyes, her hands shaking violently. "I have a... a feeling in the pit of my stomach... and my heart..." She closed her eyes and gulped, lowering her head to her chest. "When I think of... of everything my life has been... and my parents..."  
  
"I think, what you are feeling... is remorse." The samurai put one hand on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "The scion never let you feel regret or pain for the misdeeds you all have done over the years... it must be unbearable." Jack looked her in the eyes, wiping one tear off of her cheek. "But remember... you are the reason you're all free now."  
  
"Remorse..." Sarah wiped at her eyes, looking down at the floor. "After everything I've done... what am I supposed to do now?" She asked.  
  
"I do not know... but I know that whatever you do, you will be a pure heart now." Jack patted her hair and smiled comfortingly before standing up. "You will be fine, I promise." Jack patted her head one more time before he turned to walk back toward Keela and Reggoth, who watched him with curious gazes. "Come, we should find a new ship." They turned to leave, with Sarah staring after them thoughtfully.  
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"Well, anyone have any ideas?" Keela asked, staring up at what remained of the small fighter they had come in on. It was completely useless after the giant had gotten through with it, a twisted heap of metal nobody would be piloting anywhere ever again.  
  
"There must b'a way t'get another ship." Reggoth said.  
  
"Perhaps..." Jack said, staring curiously as another ship floated toward the hangar they were standing in. It floated into the hangar section and set down, the door on the side opening up slowly. They waited until finally Sarah poked her head out the door, looking down at them. "What are you doing up there?" Jack asked.  
  
"I... want to give you this ship... and go with you." Sarah walked down the ramp and walked up to them, putting her hands behind her back. "I don't have much experience or... anything like that... but I have a whole lot of money left over from the raids and the ship..." Sarah said.  
  
"You should stay here, we still have to face the Scion of Sorcery and Aku himself." Jack told her seriously.  
  
"I can't stay here... there's nothing here for me..." Sarah told them seriously, sighing. "Besides... I have to rethink my entire life... I need to figure things out... and I think you can help me... Jack..." She stared up at the samurai with a pleading glint in her eye. Jack stared back down at her, casting a sidelong glance at Keela and Reggoth before answering.  
  
"As you wish... I give you my word I will do everything I can to help you." The samurai told her. Sarah smiled up at him and took his hand, smiling broadly. Keela stared down at her a bit strangely, but the warrior took no notice. He knew what was going on, but he would deal with it in due course.  
  
"Come, we should move on. The people here need to move on with their lives, and we must move quickly to stop the final scion." Jack announced, turning to head into the new ship. Sarah followed still holding his hand while Reggoth and Keela followed behind them. They all knew this would not be easy, and things would only get more difficult from here on out, but maybe, they could give a girl a new chance at life.  
  
THE END 


	5. The Scion Of Sorcery

Part 5: The Scion Of Sorcery  
  
  
The Scion of Sight, all seeing and all knowing but ultimately defeated under the mighty sword of justice. The Scion of Strength, strong of arm and quick of movement, but ultimately a being of evil crushed under the light of goodness. The Scion of Sin, the embodiment of everything Jack was even now fighting against, oppression, evil. Even it had fallen under his blade when its own evil had turned in on itself, betrayed it. Now there was only the Scion of Sorcery, who wielded powerful magic he probably couldn't begin to guess, but he was confident even it would fall.  
  
The trip to Regallis had been a long one, and hard on all of them. Despite their determination upon leaving Cyrus Station, their enthusiasm had been dwindling steadily. Reggoth seemed worn by more than just the stump where his arm had once been, weighed down by a persistent nagging certainty that even if they took down the final Scion, Aku himself would destroy them all. Sarah was the only one of them to remain in good enough spirits, though even her young soul was deeply burdened. She had done unspeakable things that Jack didn't even want to know of, and he didn't know if she could ever truly cope. Keela seemed the most depressed of them all somehow...  
  
"Jack... are you still planning to return to your own time after we defeat Aku?" She asked him plainly. Reggoth and Sarah were at the front talking, leaving him and Keela alone near the back of the ship.  
  
"I must, Aku must not be allowed to perpetuate this... evil." Jack looked up at Sarah near the front. She should have been lighthearted as any child, but instead there was nothing but pain and memories she would have rather been without.  
  
"But why go back... you're correcting everything NOW, why go back then and risk everyone's future? As far as you know without Aku, we might all have been destroyed by now." Keela pointed out.  
  
"I must free my people, it is my duty and my destiny." Jack replied as calmly as ever.  
  
"But they're dead already Jack... they have been for thousands of years, but you've already helped countless people here and now... They may not be your people but they ARE people! You've already done more good here and now than you ever could have back then!" Keela exclaimed vehemently, raising her voice, almost sounding desperate. "You could make things right, right here..."  
  
"I failed my people, they put their faith in me and I let them down, I cannot simply walk away from my duties to my people... my family. I cannot let them fall to such injustices." Jack replied. Keela suddenly let out a loud growl, slamming her fist into the small table between them. Jack, normally so calm and composed, looked over at her in surprise.  
  
"Your people! Your people! Your people used you Jack! They used you as a crutch! They knew Aku could come back but they did nothing to prevent it! Someone else could have used the sword, they could have all revolted! ANYTHING! But no, they sat back and let YOU do all the work! They waited patiently while they molded you into this THING! Do you know what happiness IS Jack!? I doubt it, you've been too busy dedicating your life to 'your people'! They used you to try to save themselves..." She was practically in tears now, of frustration and anger.  
  
"And you still want to go back and save them, after all the good people you've saved here and now, who may just be DEAD if you do change the last several thousand years!" She gripped the table, staring him down, her face and eyes turning red from the tears. "You want to talk about something unjust... if you ask me you're more of a victim of that than ANY of 'your people'..." She slammed her palm against the table again before she whirled to stomp into the back of the small jet where they'd set up the small cots.  
  
Jack stared after her for a few minutes, dumbfounded. Finally he turned back to the front to see both Reggoth and Sarah looking back at him. "Don't worry about her Jack, I think it's just hitting her that this journey is almost over." Reggoth told him calmly.  
  
"I know she is nervous, but I cannot believe it would be anything but better for none of this to have happened." Jack replied seriously. Reggoth simply grunted in agreement, but Sarah looked back at him for a moment before she jumped off her chair and approached him.  
  
"Maybe she's just afraid of what this change would bring." Sarah told him with an understanding far beyond her years in her voice. "The hardest thing for a person to do is to lose control of their life, maybe she thinks you changing history would take her life out of her own hands." The little girls suggested, taking the seat Keela had just vacated.  
  
"Control of ones own life... is there really such a thing?" Jack asked, not expecting nor receiving any answer from the child seated beside him. He'd never known any control over his own life, everything was the wish of another.  
  
"Whatever y'think, it's time t'make a decision now, we're approaching Regallis... y'wanna turn around and head back, or go in?" Reggoth announced from the front, looking back at the Samurai still sitting in the chair.  
  
"I will not back down no matter what, take us in." Jack replied determinedly, watching the planet approaching fast. They would have to find the Scion of Sorcery once they got to the planet, but he knew one they would, and then he would eliminate him... after that... there was only Aku.  
  
He looked over to the seat beside him, finding Sarah still staring deep into his eyes. He looked back for a moment, then turned to watch the planet approaching fast, the vast blue water covering the majority of the surface. It looked very much like Earth actually, except it was still mostly pure, unlike the Earth which had been infected by Aku's evil. On the almost perfect surface, he could see one dark spot beginning to spread, and infect the rest. The Scion's influence.  
  
"At least w'have a place t'begin." Reggoth commented, his one arm effectively navigating the controls to bring their heading onto the tainted area of the planet. They would be there soon, it was only a matter of waiting, something Jack found was fairly common when traveling the vast reaches of space.  
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The cold water splashed over Keela's face, cooling down the heat that she had felt building, as well as masking her tears. She didn't know why she was so upset really, there was something wrong, she could feel it. Wrong about all of this, why should Jack have to fight to save a bunch of people who were too weak to stand up for themselves... why should she have to lose him to them...  
  
"Oh God..." She lifted her face to look into the mirror, her shimmering pale skin and blue eyes staring back at her in stark contrast with a normal human face. How could she have let this happen, how stupid was she... why was this happening. What was it about him, what pulled her to him so strongly? She'd thought she could never love again, why now...  
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The ship came down steadily. There was no risk of any of the Scion's minions recognizing it, this was Sarah's ship from Cyrus Station, nobody would be able to recognize it. The door on the side opened vertically, a flight of stairs descending down to the floor of the open topped hangar. Jack and Reggoth started down them, but the samurai stopped and turned back when he heard Sarah following.  
  
"Stay here." Jack told her firmly.  
  
"No." Sarah replied. "I can help you gather information... I have more ways than you." Her voice wavered slightly, but she was obviously determined to help.  
  
"Ways I don't want you using anymore." Jack told her more gently, staring into her eyes. "Besides, I would feel better if someone was watching Keela for me... could you?" He didn't use the normal condescending tone one might normally hear when one was asking a child a question. Instead he sounded more like it was a genuine concern and wish.  
  
"Okay... I promise." Sarah replied, nodding and reaching just inside the ships door to raise the steps that would have let her out of the ship. "We'll be waiting here, you two be careful." She said seriously.  
  
"Good, we will return shortly." Jack replied, turning to head into the nearby city with Reggoth walking by his side. They entered to find it a bustling town full of merchants and shopkeepers, not unlike the crowded center Jack had found aboard Cyrus Station. This one however didn't have the stink of corruption and evil about it, just the dwindling hope and growing desperation of all lands that Aku and his minions had spread their evil into.  
  
Silently Reggoth tapped Jack's shoulder, gesturing to what looked like an old, worn bar on the side of the street. The samurai nodded and they went inside, finding it to be only slightly less dirty than the outside had been. Only a few patrons were at the tables set up around the room and the bar in the back. The bartender eyed them suspiciously, but didn't say anything.  
  
Jack and Reggoth approached the bar and sat down, each of them ordering. Water for Jack, and some kind of drink for Reggoth that the warrior had never heard of before.  
  
"Let me ask him." Jack told Reggoth while they waited for their drinks.  
  
"Fine b'me lad, g'ahead and give it a try." Reggoth replied.  
  
"What has happened to this place?" Jack asked the bartender when he set the water in front of him.  
  
"Same thing that's happened to all places." He replied with a sharp sneer. "Since Aku's little minion came around, been all kinds of people through here, with more than one traveler looking to unload some... strange things." The bartender looked down at the sword still on Jack's hip.  
  
"It's not for sale." Jack told the man without even raising his hat to see the man's face. "The minion to speak of, it's the Scion of Sorcery, is it not?" The samurai asked.  
  
"Of course, you can just look at this place to see the rot those things carry with them everywhere they go." The bartender sighed wistfully. "Of course, it gives me business, this place is actually more full now than it ever was before he showed up."  
  
"Can you tell us where the Scion stays?" Jack asked, not one for beating around the bush or pandering.  
  
"Well I don't know, there's a high price to pay for going up against one of Aku's Scions." The bartender told him, rubbing his index finger and thumb together in a very clear message.  
  
"I have nothing." Jack admitted.  
  
"Then I don't know anything." The bartender replied.  
  
"Come on now." Reggoth chimed in merrily, though he had yet to finish even his first drink. "We're like brothers here, w'all want t'see the Scion leave, don't we?" He pulled the high caliber weapon from his belt that he'd gotten from the station before, setting the bottom part against the counter. This obviously made the bartender quite nervous. "We'll b'out o'your hair as soon as w'get what w'need."  
  
Jack stood before the bartender could even respond. "No, leave him be, we shall look for other sources of information." The warrior told him sternly.  
  
"Why bother? W'have this one right here all ready t'talk." Reggoth shot back.  
  
"Threats are not the way to get help." Jack turned, to see at least two dozen men standing in a perfect formation, staring them down. "Besides, it looks as if our presence here has already been uncovered." Reggoth looked over at the small army, then glared back at the bartender who was trying his best to look innocent. Still, they could see the small switch on the ground that had been pressed.  
  
"I'll deal with you later." Without warning Reggoth whirled with gun in hand, firing several shots into the crowd of guards before he leapt over the bar, kicking the bartender to the ground and taking cover before the guards could retaliate in kind. Jack Leapt back over the bar as well, kneeling down just before the soldiers returned fire, tearing the wall behind them into little more than a big hole.  
  
"How come w'always wind up being ambushed instead o'sneaking in like w'plan!?" Reggoth shouted over the roar of the gunfire.  
  
"Distract them." Jack told him, slinking toward the other side of the bar.  
  
"Sure, I'll just stick up a bottle or something." Reggoth shot back, shaking his head and looking around. All he could find were shards of broken glass and spilled liquid... and the bartender cowering and shielding himself against the falling glass. "Come here." Reggoth grabbed him and hauled him up over the counter. "Don't shoot if you want him alive!" The gunfire stopped for only a moment before it came again, tossing the man back over the counter, limp this time. "Guess not."  
  
The sound of the enchanted steel of Jack's blade leaving its scabbard cut the air sharply as the samurai leapt from behind the bar a distance away from Reggoth. He held the sword to the side until he came within striking distance, severing one of the guard in half in one single blow. A shrill scream erupted through the room as the guard split, but the two pieces formed into a dark shadow.  
  
"What's this?" Jack took a step back as the screaming shadows pulsed before they moved together again, taking the shape of the guard after only a few moments. Jack lunged again, tearing into the ranks of soldiers with expert swipes of his sword, but every one he cut down returned while the others still kept pressing in on him, giving up their weapons for a hand-to-hand approach.  
  
"Get back you shadow dwelling bastards!" Reggoth stood straight again, firing his weapon into the mass of soldiers. The bullets simple plunged through their bodies, leaving small holes of darkness for a second before they closed again, leaving the soldiers unscathed. "They can't b'invincible something has t'kill them." He muttered to himself, still firing.  
  
He stopped firing however when he felt something come up behind him out of the floor, like a shadow stretching over the daylight. He lowered the gun and turned around slowly, looking up at the dark form of the final Scion, it's entire body pulsing with dark crimson power as its eyes whirled with infinite shades of red. "That's right, we're here for you now, y'might as well give up." He raised the gun again quickly... but could not fire.  
  
[Death to the enemies of Aku.] The scion raised one dark tendrils from its body, Reggoth rising into the air without anything else even touching him. The crimson power flowed from the scion and into Reggoths body, sending his muscles into hideous spasms. Reggoth screamed as he lost all control over his own body, but there was little he could do.  
  
"What? Reggoth!" Jack whirled when he heard Reggoth's screams, trying to reach him, but the soldiers kept pressing in on him, tearing into him with their almost claw-like fingers. He brought his sword around to fight back, tearing them in half with every swing, but still they continued to press in on him while Reggoth was still in the Scion's grasp.  
  
"You want t'kill me... just d'it already s'I don't have t'keep looking at you." Reggoth muttered between clenched teeth, his body still rigid and pulsing with the Scions crimson energy.  
  
[As you wish.] The Scion's eyes pulsed as Reggoth screamed even louder, the crimson energy intensifying until finally in one violent surge the power cut through his body, shutting it all down. Reggoth let out one more scream before his body went completely limp hanging in the air, his lifeless eyes staring at the Scion.  
  
"REGGOTH!" Jack tore through the shadows, lunging for the Scion with a fierce scream. The shadows lunged in his way however, one leaping into the air and kicking him to the side, sending him slamming into the ground hard. The sword flew from his grasp, arcing through the air until it embedded itself in the wall with a thud.  
  
Jack lunged to his feet in time to avoid several more strikes from the soldiers, but he managed to strike back, taking one down with a well paced kick and get around the others. He whirled on the Scion in time to see a crimson light just before it enveloped him, just as it had Reggoth moments before.  
  
[Fighting without your sword is futile samurai.] The Scion of Sorcery remarked with a victorious tone in his voice. [Your assault against us will end here and now.]  
  
"You may be able to kill me, but you can never kill justice." Jack struggled to try to move his own body, but the crimson power held onto him too tightly.  
  
[Kill you, oh no, that would be too good for you. After all the trouble you've caused my master, he asked me to give you a special gift.] The scion raised one claw-like arm that began to pulse bright crimson, the power building steadily within it. [For all eternity you will live, samurai, in the darkness you despise so much!] He thrust his hand forward, sending the power tearing into Jack's face, ripping into his eyes, mouth, and ears.  
  
Jack let out a piercing scream, his entire body felt like it was on fire. The crimson energy surged through his eyes, scorching them beyond repair. They burned his tongue, destroyed his ears in a magnificent blast. It surged into his head, destroying anything they came across, but what it came across seemed surprisingly selective. After what felt like an eternity, the Scion let Jack crumple to the floor with a thud... and everything was black.  
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"Son, come here." The little boy whirled in place, smiling and running into his mothers arms as she opened her arms to give him a big hug. "I love you..." She told him softly, holding him tightly to her. Her voice seemed softer than usual though, distant and almost sad.  
  
"Is something wrong momma?" The little boy asked, pulling back in her arms to give her a worried look.  
  
"Everything will be fine... I'm sure of it." She replied with a warm smile. "I wish I knew what your future holds, but I'm sure no matter what... you'll be able to handle it." She kissed him lightly on the cheek, and he again settled into her arms, smiling as contentedly as ever.  
  
"Look out!" The screams erupted all at once, sounding through the small village as a shadow loomed tall. His mother looked up in horror at the great shadow, clutching the boy even more tightly to her. Its eyes almost seemed to be on fire, burning out of control as it attacked the city, destroying it piece by piece and laughing at their pain.  
  
"You must be safe son... please." His mother hugged him tightly before he was taken from her, rushed away from the city to begin his long training. From boyhood to manhood he dedicated his life to fighting for his people... but never once did he have a moment to do anything for himself, his life was completely theirs... was that really right?  
  
While he was training, his people were forced into the mines underneath their once proud city. They were forced to work endlessly, ever tiring but never resting, if any did try to take a break, they were punished accordingly by Aku's evil law. They had done nothing to deserve this, they had fought and been defeated... as he would be years later when he tried to free them.  
  
No matter how little happiness he'd had in his life, it could never justify him abandoning his people, he would never stop fighting for them. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't several thousand years in the future... they weren't all dead, they were still slaves. Slaves he again swore to free, with all of the determination of his pain-wracked mind.  
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Jack could feel himself regaining consciousness, the aches and pains in his body told him he was back among the living, but opening his eyes, he discovered he could see nothing. He pushed himself up from the ground, feeling the cold wooden panels he still lay upon, the dust floating in the air, disturbed by his movement. He couldn't smell the dust however.  
  
He groped in the darkness, trying to push himself to his hands and knees, and realized he couldn't hear his hands or feet against the floor, not even the slight hum of wind passing by his head. He moved his hands against the wooden floor, looking for anything familiar for him to get his bearings on. He felt something in a moment, so he moved closer to feel it more thoroughly.  
  
It was Reggoth, his face still and cold under the samurai's light touch. Jack let out a sigh, signified only because he could feel the wind passing through his chest and over his lips. He allowed himself only a few moments to grieve before he finally pushed himself up to his feet, beginning to stumble blindly in the dark.  
  
The air around him was musky, with the dust settling down lightly on his skin, but from one direction he could feel warmth, sunlight from outside most likely. He moved in the direction of the warmth, leading with his hands. They touched the doorframe slightly and he moved a few steps outside. He could feel the wind blowing through his hair and his robes, carrying the dirt and filth of the city with it.  
  
He moved forward again, but he forgot about the step up to the bar and tripped, hurtling face first into the ground, painfully hitting the pavement. With his head against the ground, he could feel a strange steady rhythm growing louder, like someone's footsteps moving toward him. He waited in silence, beginning to push himself to his hands and knees again, but something slammed sharply into his side, sending him down again.  
  
Whoever it was, they weren't friendly. The steady thumps in the ground split into two directions, each circling him in a different direction, their feet stirring up dust more than normally blew through the city. Jack waited a few moments for one of the pairs of footsteps to stop, feeling the dust swirling away from him in that direction as his attackers foot was raised backward.  
  
The samurai rolled on the ground, catching his attackers foot in mid-kick and lashing out with his own foot, making his other knee buckle. In a flash he twisted the ankle he held in his hands, feeling it snap under the swift, precise movement. His victory only lasted a moment before the other attacker started kicking him in the face, or anywhere else he could reach. Jack tried to fight back, but the kicks were coming too fast for him to concentrate.  
  
In a moment he felt himself yanked up off the ground by the front of his robe. Air brushed over his face and cheeks in a steady pattern, someone was yelling into his face. He could practically feel the man's anger growing the more he spoke, the words beginning to resonate slightly in his brain despite that he couldn't actually hear them.  
  
Jack took a moment to rest before he planted his feet firmly against the ground and batted his attackers hands away, his fists flying in a series of lightning fast strikes over his attackers stomach and chest until he finally slammed one fist into the guys head, feeling the thud through the soles of his feet as the attacker his the ground.  
  
He whirled when he felt two more pairs of footsteps approaching, putting his hands up into fighting positions, but the footsteps just stopped. Everything was completely still, nothing gave any evidence that these new people were moving. In a moment he felt the dust in front of him stir just slightly, roused by this newcomer moving one foot toward him.  
  
Curiously he relaxed one hand, reaching it in front of him steadily until he felt it touch something. He felt a face, soft and almost slick with moisture, her lips moving, her vocal chords rising toward the end of her speech in a question he didn't even need to hear to understand.  
  
"Keela..." He said, though he couldn't even hear it. He knew it only by the vibration of his own vocal chords. "I've failed... The Scion killed Reggoth and took my sword... along with my senses..." Jack confessed, clenching his eyes and free fist shut in frustration. He felt her speak again through his palm still near her throat, her hands pulling him into a gentle hug. He didn't need to hear her words to understand them now... she would help him. He feared nothing in the universe could help him now... but nonetheless... he welcomed her comfort.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
There was little Keela could do to help Jack now, she could only watch him lying on his bed with his dark eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling of the small ship that was all the shelter they had. They had no money to afford proper housing, and even if they did, she now didn't trust the locals to keep away from them for a good nights rest.  
  
They had found Reggoth in the bar, every joint on his body bent at an unnatural angle. On top of that, Jack barely replied to her except for one sentence, and his sword had been taken by whoever had attacked them. As if that was a big mystery though... there was only one being on this planet who could have done something of this magnitude where so many others had failed...  
  
"What now?" Sarah asked the silent question hanging in the air between the three of them. With Jack unable to fight at full strength and his sword missing, pursuing the Scion any further was pointless. They had no clues to the swords whereabouts and if possible even less to the scions whereabouts.  
  
"Now... I suppose... we leave." Keela replied, looking down at the samurai lying on the bed. If she could only see what was running through his mind, know exactly what was happening to him and how to help. Only he could find his sword, but then only if he could see, and hear.  
  
"Keela..." Jack said his voice sounding uneven and wavering though only slightly. She stood and walked over to him. Obviously he felt her coming, because his hands reached up to run, by accident, up her chest to her throat and lips. "We must find my sword..."  
  
"We can't, we don't even have anywhere to look." Keela replied, speaking very deliberately into his hands so he could feel her words. "Even if we did, you're in no position to fight, and me and Sarah couldn't fight the Scions soldiers alone if you and Reggoth failed."  
  
Jack seemed to consider that for a moment, concentrating on something she could not sense. "I can feel it... my sword, somewhere. Its vibrations are like an earthquake." The samurai told her. "I can lead us to it... I am sure of it."  
  
"Even so, what then?" Keela asked. "What are we supposed to do even if we find the sword? You could barely use it."  
  
"We'll do whatever we can." Jack replied firmly, his voice giving no hint of weakness or that he was unsure. His determination, despite her own misgivings, gave her some semblance of hope and courage to move on. She helped him up from the bed and out of the ship, taking her gun and Sarah bringing her knife. She wanted the little girl to stay, but she refused.  
  
Jack walked ahead of them, following some silent beacon only he could sense. Keela kept her hand on his elbow, guiding him around obstacles and the citizens who dotted the landscape around the city. Periodically Keela would put Jacks hands to hr lips and throat to ask if the sword was nearby, drawing curious stares from those who saw the procedure.  
  
"Perhaps they took it off the planet." Sarah suggested.  
  
"Then Jack wouldn't feel it at all." Keela reminded her sharply. Jack still couldn't hear them, thus was unable to join in any conversations, but he still led the way without hesitation. Even with his eyes shut and walking like a blind man, he had a kind of dignity about him that few could hope to mimic.  
  
"It's close." Jack said, slowing his pace. "Up ahead..." They had left the city proper nearly an hour ago, so it came as little surprise to her that they would be hiding out here. Keela moved ahead of him, peering into the distance. She saw a small wall on the other side of a courtyard surrounded by trees. There was a depression to one side leading past the wall, but there were two guard pacing along the top.  
  
"It must be in the fortress..." Keela said, looking back at Jack. She took his hands and placed them against her throat and lips, speaking very deliberately. "Are you sure it's close by?"  
  
"Yes... I believe so." Jack replied after a moment's thought. "I am unused to this... but I can feel something from nearby up ahead."  
  
"That figures." Sarah muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked up at Keela, quirking an eyebrow. "Should I take care of it?" She asked. She didn't say what she would do, but judging from her past, Keela was sure she would not enjoy it.  
  
"No, I'll take care of this. Take shelter behind the forest on the front side." Keela replied, reaching up to slide her shirt off, handing it to the bewildered girl. "Take Jack with you, and wait for my signal." She stripped off the rest of her clothing, handing it all to the highly confused girl. She took the gun out of her holster, taping it to her stomach and testing to make sure it would stay. She looked over at Sarah when she didn't move. "I said wait by the forest cover!"  
  
"Oh... right! Come on Jack!" Sarah exclaimed despite that the samurai couldn't hear her. She dragged him by the hand over to the edge of the forest opposite the guards, hunkering down to watch her.  
  
Keela knelt down by the grass, keeping an eye on the soldiers as her flesh began to change, the pigment in each particle of skin altering to reflect the ground directly opposite. She put her stomach inches against the ground as she crawled forward like a spider, keeping as low as possible both to hide the weapon taped to her stomach and keep her shadow from being a dead giveaway.  
  
She made her way, inch by inch, across the courtyard, keeping an eye constantly on the pair of guards on the wall. Fortunately they looked overconfident and inattentive, sure they could see anything coming from that kind of vantage point. Normally they would have been right, but it took more care to spot a chameleon.  
  
When she was a few feet from the gap in the wall she paused, looking up at the guards to make sure their attention was diverted before the leapt into the gap. She moved through the wall, looking cautiously around the corner. There was a small fortress on the other side of the wall, as she'd suspected, but it didn't look big enough to be a hideout for the Scion. It must extend underground.  
  
She looked up the side of the wall again, spotting the guards and two ladders extending up from the ground to the top. She crept up and watched them to make sure they weren't looking before she began her quick descent. Her chameleon ability was useless on a ladder, she had to be fairly close to something to assume its color, and the ground was too far.  
  
She clambered up to the top, poking her head just over the ladder. One guard stopped right in front of her, staring out across the field in front of the fortress. She steadied herself a moment, then flung herself onto the wall from the top rung.  
  
She shoved the guard roughly from the top of the wall, sending him plummeting to the ground with only the ghost of a scream having time to escape. Grabbed her gun and ripped it free from her stomach, whirling on the second guard on the other side of the wall. He barely had his gun up before the soft twip of the weapons silencer sounded, sending a bullet straight into his chest.  
  
As the guard collapsed to the wall she turned toward the front, letting the pigments in her skin return to their natural color while she waved Sarah across the field. She rushed down the ladder to meet her and get dressed.  
  
"I never knew you could do that." Sarah sounded almost in awe as she watched the older woman getting dressed. Jack stood by her side since he couldn't see or even hear them anyway.  
  
"Its just part of my species, nothing special." Keela replied. In a few moments she finished getting dressed and turned toward the inner building, walking up to the door. "Any ideas on how to open this?" She asked as she put a hand on the cold steel door. There didn't seem to be any handles or control panels nearby.  
  
"Here, let me see." Sarah dropped Jacks hand and rushed up to the door, putting her ear up against it. She rapped her knuckles on the surface in various places, listening intently. In a moment she drew her dagger and let the tip hover over the metal, tapping it in various spots. Finally she drew the steel weapon back and plunged it into the door, sending it straight through the seemingly solid steel.  
  
"How the Hell... it looks and feels solid to me." Keela said, confused.  
  
"Yes, but I used to keep an eye on them making these at Cyrus Station, in case I ever needed to get past one." Sarah replied, running her dagger down the door and cutting a large slit as though it were tinfoil. "Cheap fast and sturdy was what they always wanted, fortunately sturdy doesn't go with cheap and fast. There are different strips on the door that are hollow, though they are hard to find and impossible to detect if you don't know they're there."  
  
Keela had to admit to being impressed as the little girl cut the door in half, pushing the side on hinges in and leaving the rest of the door still hooked to the wall. They entered the small complex, finding themselves in a simple room with an elevator set in the far well.  
  
"Its nearby... we're almost right on top of it." Jack said. That confirmed Keela's suspicion that this had to be where the sword, and likely the Scion, were hidden. They approached the elevator and climbed in, waiting a moment before pressing the bottom floor. She grabbed Jack's hands and put them over her throat and lips.  
  
"Tell me when you feel it level with us." She told him quickly. Jack nodded, keeping his eyes closed and his head down as though concentrating on something. They waited as the elevator descended even further underground than they would have ever suspected. Jack kept his head bowed, waiting for something.  
  
Without warning the entire elevator rocked wildly, throwing them against the walls and to the ground. "What the Hell was that!?" Sarah exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling fearfully. She didn't have to ask, there was only one thing it could be.  
  
"We have to get out of here!" Keela jumped to her feet, leaning against the wall and pushing herself into the center. She pulled Jack and Sarah with her, watching as the walls began to pulse crimson. The power crept through the walls, spreading to the floor.  
  
"Jump!" Keela jumped and grabbed the bar on the roof, wrapping her legs around Sarah and hefting her off the ground. Jack had apparently reached the same conclusion somehow, because he leapt and made a wild swing, one finger catching the bar so he could get a firmer grip.  
  
The crimson energy began to creep along the roof toward them now that the floor was covered. Keela kicked at the ceiling desperately, managing to slam her foot into a concealed hatch and push it open. She flipped her knees over the side of the hole, yanking herself up out of the hole.  
  
"Come on Sarah!" Keela reached back down to pull the little girl out of the elevator. Before she could go back for Jack the crimson power surged over the entrance, slamming the door shut. "Jack! No!" She slammed her fist into the door, tr6ying to force it open again.  
  
[Goodbye, samurai.] A dark voice spoke in her head before the elevator rope snapped, sending it flying down the shaft. Keela, grabbed the end of the shorn rope, the other taking hold of Sarah's hand before she could follow.  
  
"Jaaaack!" Keela screamed, though she knew there was nothing she could do now. He was trapped in the elevator that would slam into the ground in only a few moments. She closed her eyes, her entire body shaking against just the sound of the steel elevator scraping against the walls. She could not watch, she just hung there helpless.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
[Alone now, warrior.] Jack could hear the Scions taunts in his head, which was throbbing with uncontrollable pain. He shook his head to try to remember what had happened, but all he could remember was an almost weightless feeling as he fell with the elevator but then... he couldn't remember anything. The pulse of his enchanted swords power rang through his mind, so close he could feel it in his hands.  
  
"I will defeat you, no matter what you do to me... you will never win." Jack said proudly, though he could not hear his own voice.  
  
[I was willing to let you go free, trapped in the darkness of your own mind, but now you can stew here forever, tormented by the freedom you could have had, the key so close at hand, condemned to the darkness you chose when you went up against me.] The Scion of Sorcery's taunts penetrated even the closed mind Jack had been forced into since the bar.  
  
"I'll defeat you!" Jack stumbled toward the pounding surge of power that he knew was his sword, but he was halted by a barrier. He tried to go around, but it always remained between him and the sword. He tried to break it with punches, kicks, anything he could do, but nothing seemed to be able to penetrate the substance.  
  
[Try, try for a while, until you realize hope no longer exists for you.] The Scion's taunts rang like a bell in his head, the only sound that existed to him. [Until you break down like all mortals will once they realize, there's nothing they can do. Their fates are sealed and you... warrior... your fate is worse than any other.]  
  
"Silence..." Jack growled darkly, his hands clutching at the barrier between him and his weapon, which had the power to resist the Scion, and grant him all of his senses once again.  
  
[Always here, always alive, always trapped, always helpless... always alone and eternally a failure, no matter what time you're in.] The glee was clear in the Scions tone of voice.  
  
"Be quiet! I will defeat you!" Jack pounded his fists on the barrier wildly, unable to find any other ways out, there could have been a door mere feet away and he would never know... he was truly helpless. All he could do was pound on the barrier, and pray that it eventually gave way... but somewhere deep down he knew that it never would.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The clank of the steel dagger plunging through the crack in the elevator doors echoed through the now empty elevator shaft. Keela grunted with the effort of prying the solid steel apart, collapsing to the ground from the ladder she had managed to climb up. She sat on her hands and knees, clenching her eyes shut against the tears brought up by both the smoke from the wreckage and the knowledge that he had been in there...  
  
"What... do we... do?" Sarah asked, collapsing to the ground beside her, panting heavily. Keela didn't respond, sitting against the wall and leaning back, her head aiming up at the ceiling though her eyes were still closed.  
  
"It doesn't matter." She replied softly. "There's no point in fighting now."  
  
Sarah eyed her for a few minutes, raising one eyebrow. "You got by well enough before you met him, what's changed?" She asked.  
  
Keela glared back. "Just get away from me..." She hissed like a snake, putting the back of her head against the wall.  
  
"Don't you think there's a chance he's still alive?" Sarah asked.  
  
"You saw that thing hit the ground the same as I did." Keela shot back. "Nothing could have survived that crash."  
  
"Either way... I'm going further down into the complex." Sarah replied, standing up.  
  
"What's the point you brat? He's dead, why bother with that?" Keela shot back. Despite her harsh tone, she wasn't really angry with anyone but herself. Jack had been trusting her to guide him through the complex, and she'd left him behind to save herself... how stupid was she?  
  
"Just shut up!" Sarah exclaimed, surprising Keela out of her self-pity. "I killed my parents when I was two, so I could go to work for those people who would let me do what I wanted! They didn't succumb to the Scions influence because they loved me, and I killed them for trying to get me out of there!" Sarah shouted, her little fists trembling by her sides. "In the last two weeks since I joined you people... Jack's been a second father to me. I will not leave him here." With that the little girl whirled and stomped down the hall away from the elevator.  
  
"Hey... hey come back!" Keela jumped to her feet and followed her, putting one hand on her shoulder. "I know how you feel but... but there's no hope now, what would be the point...? We'd only die too and... and we both know he'd hate us if we died for him."  
  
"I'll get him out alive... or I'll die with him here." Sarah replied, looking up at her. She had begun to look more like the child she should be, but now there was nothing but a grim determination and fiercer loyalty than Keela had ever seen in anybody's eyes. Keela didn't stop her from turning and heading deeper into the complex, stunned.  
  
Sarah was right, without Jack, there was really no point to escape. Aku's influence would remain eternal, and if Jack was dead, there was no point in living anyway. If there was a chance he was alive down there somewhere though... hope wasn't gone.  
  
"Let's go then." She said, following the little girl through the halls with an increased respect. For the first time she realized just why Jack was fighting. This little girl did nothing, her life would have been nothing but better without the Scion of Sin's existence... and this entire time she'd only been praying her own time with Jonathan, her only happy memories, remained intact. She was quickly coming to realize just how stupid and shallow she really was.  
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Jack leaned against the solid barrier with his back, his head resting on the solid glass or whatever it was separating him from his only weapon against the Scion. Still he could hear it in his mind, taunting him mercilessly, slowly driving him to the point of insanity. Undoubtedly Aku would love to see him like this, weak and helpless, unable to even attempt to fight a being this powerful.  
  
He felt something moving along the ground toward him steadily, the footsteps vibrating the steel plated ground he was sitting on. He looked up, though he could still see nothing. He didn't resist when one arm grabbed him by the neck of his robe, hauling him off the ground roughly. He didn't bother fighting back, having given up after what seemed like hours of banging on the impenetrable barrier.  
  
[Yes samurai... I can feel your spirit weakening, so close to your goal and yet unable to get to it, your own weakness haunting your consciousness.] One cold finger stroked Jacks cheek almost gently, surprising him. [I'll give you one chance samurai, will you fight with me?]  
  
"Kill me, devour my soul, corrupt my mind and body if you wish, but I will never call Aku master." Jack spit back, unable to even hear his own words.  
  
[I didn't really think so, Aku simply wanted me to ask. Come then, it's time for your torment in the land of the living to end, and your torment in Hell to begin.] The scion dragged him away from the barrier and his precious sword, dragging his sandaled feet along the steel floor. Jack let himself be dragged, concentrating on the feel of the plating under his feet, memorizing the route they were taking by which way he was turned and how long before he turned.  
  
Left, right, left, left... he kept it up, praying he had it all right when they apparently reached their destination. The Scion flung him to the cold steel floor, tossing him down on some contraption he couldn't identify.  
  
[Don't worry samurai, this will be very, very painfu-] The Scion was cut off suddenly by a shockwave that penetrated deep into Jack's heart. For a moment he thought the Scion had struck, but then realized he wasn't injured, his body had just been shaken violently. An explosion, somewhere in this underground complex. He must have been right, because the Scion didn't speak again, and he didn't feel its presence in the room anymore. It must have gone to investigate, he only wished he knew what it was.  
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Sarah kept her arms up and her body down, shielding herself from the shrapnel that erupted from the detonated shield of thick glass that had surrounded Jack's enchanted sword. They had found the central control room for the complex after a lot of searching. There didn't seem to be any guards. This rang a lot of alarms in both hers and Keela's heads, but it was either chicken out and run or push ahead, and they weren't giving up now.  
  
Sarah finally stood up straight to gaze at the now free enchanted blade, sitting on the pedestal that had been holding it far above Jack's head even if he'd managed to get through the glass. A cruel prank undoubtedly, but she supposed that would be the Scions favorite kind.  
  
[Well well, a little girl.] Sarah froze when she heard the voice sound through her mind, so much like the Scion of Sin she for a moment thought it had come back for revenge against her. [Nice idea using a bomb, but you weren't quick enough to get the sword itself, a pity.]  
  
"Scion of Sorcery..." Sarah turned slowly, looking up at the pulsing dark form that almost looked like the shroud of Death. She couldn't keep a slight waver out of her voice. "The last of the scions." She amended herself.  
  
[And the last thing you'll ever see, girl.] It lifted one dark claw, crimson power pulsing through it like an electrical surge.  
  
"T... tell me something first..." Sarah stammered, almost losing her composure. She wasn't used to feeling fear, or any emotions for that matter. "Why aren't there any guards around here? Do you think you can defend this whole place?" She asked. The Scion stared down at her, its crimson eyes narrowing as it lowered its claw.  
  
[You're stalling for time... what are you hiding?] The Scion looked past her, focusing hard on the pedestal for the first time. Sarah looked back as well, hoping she'd stalled long enough. A shimmer erupted in the air as something wrenched the sword from its prison, leaping through the air with a loud warlike yell. Keela's completely bare skin was gray to match the pedestal, giving her enough time to get the sword before she was noticed.  
  
She wasn't the warrior Jack was, even with the sword, but surprise proved to be a formidable ally. The blade slashed through the Scions chest, sending him reeling back against the steel wall, clutching it with one claw to keep himself on his feet as he clutched at the wound.  
  
"You definitely made a mistake by not hiring some help, I'll finish you off, then go find Jack so he can finish off your master." Keela hissed gleefully, her skin returning to its natural, pale hue.  
  
[A Chameleon, I didn't know there were any of you left.] The Scions replied. [Still, it doesn't matter, I have all the help I need right here.] The Scion lifted its hand, pulsing with crimson energy. Immediately more than a dozen dark shapes burst through the steel flooring. In a few moments they formed into dark guards, with black uniforms and glowing crimson eyes.  
  
"I think we know how they got Reggoth..." Sarah commented, backing away from the shadows. Keela moved toward her, holding the enchanted blade in front of her like a shield. She couldn't wield it effectively, their only option was to retreat.  
  
"Sarah, come on... NOW!" Keela lunged toward one of the shadows, cutting it clean in half with one wild swing of the blade. Sarah followed, leaping between the two halves before they came together again, forming into the soldier once again.  
  
They darted through the hallways, trying to outdistance the soldiers. Finally Keela turned a corner and whirled into the door frame beside one of the huge doors, pulling Sarah in front of her and handing her the sword, facing the corner of the frame.  
  
"Don't breathe..." Keela whispered as her skin once again changed pigment, mimicking the wall in front of her, shadows and all. Sarah held her breath as she heard the soldiers coming up behind them moments after Keela completed her pigment change. Most of the shadows darted past them, a few lunging into the door right beside them to search for them.  
  
Sarah waited in tense silence, waiting for the shadows to dart back out of the room, passing right by them without a second glance. Nobody expected them to hide in the open, they were looking in the more obvious hiding places. They ran down the hall, searching in doors and nooks and crannies.  
  
Keela opened the door and whirled inside, hauling Sarah and the sword in after her before she shut it behind them. "We made it... oh my God I can't believe that worked..." She panted, putting a hand over her heart.  
  
"Remind me... never to play hide-and-seek with you..." Sarah said, leaning against the door and panting heavily. "What do we do now? How are we supposed to find Jack now that we have the sword?"  
  
"Maybe..." Keela looked down at the sword, her grip loosening somewhat. "We can find him with this..."  
  
"What?" Sarah asked. Keela looked down at the sword and stood up, holding it out in front of her. She turned slowly, the middle of the blade balanced in her hand carefully. Slowly the blade turned in her palm, pointing to the left from the door. Sarah stared in surprise while Keela grinned.  
  
"Jack could find his way toward it, so there's some connection between them, it had to make sense the sword could find him too." Keela said, tossing the blade up and grabbing the hilt. "Come on, lets get moving while the Scions occupied looking for us elsewhere."  
  
They set out into the hall, moving cautiously in the direction the sword had pointed. Every so often Keela brought the blade around again to make sure they were still going the right way. They were on their way, Jack would be with them very soon.  
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Jack waited in the unbroken darkness, knowing something was happening but being completely unable to do anything about it. He didn't know what struck him most deeply, his helplessness, or the fact everyone else was doing his work for him. He only wished he knew where Keela and Sarah had gone, were they still out there looking for him?  
  
His breath caught in his throat when he suddenly realized the sword was moving toward him, he could feel its power pulsing through his body. Someone was bringing the sword to him, and they were almost there. Once he had the blade, he would be able to see and hear again, the swords magic countered that of the Scions.  
  
[Expecting a rescue?] His blood ran cold when he heard the Scion speaking into his mind. [Go ahead and hold your breath, you need to die anyway.] Jack stood helpless, unable to stop them from coming or fight the Scion... he was just a piece of bait now.  
  
The pressure in the room shifted as the door opened to his right, two pairs of footsteps darting into the room.  
  
"Give me the sword!" Jack exclaimed, starting to move toward them, but he was shoved back violently against the steel wall more than twenty feet away with a hard thud. He could feel the strands of power releasing him from their grip, his sword moving clumsily through the air, probably to ward them off.  
  
Jack felt strands of dark power touching him, the Scion was right in front of him, its voice speaking into the minds of everyone present. [Give up, this is futile, you're no warrior, and your only hope is defenseless now.] The Scion taunted, the power around Jack pulsing at an even faster pace... he was building up for a discharge.  
  
"Leave them alone!" Jack howled, throwing himself into the air at the Scions head. He latched onto its back, his fists driving into the side of its head hard enough to do probably a little damage. He attacked until he felt an incredible surge of power run through him, throwing him to the ground heavily with a gasp of pain.  
  
The swirl of quick movement and the pounding of two pairs of feet on the steel floor was all Jack could sense other than his sword, being flung about the room between the two pairs of feet. Pulses of pure power surged through the air as well, making the hairs on the back of Jack's neck stand up.  
  
Suddenly he felt the sword flying high through the air in his direction, but it fell just short, embedding itself in the steel ground. Jack lunged from the wall as fast as he could, the hair on the back of his neck rising...  
  
The samurai leapt into the air in a summersault, the burst of the Scion's power surging right underneath him as he flew. One hand reached out once the surge was gone, reaching for the familiar pulse that was so close he could almost feel it already in his blood.  
  
The first sound he heard was the sound of the metal blade being yanked out of the ground as he landed on one knee, gripping the pommel in his hands. Pearl white power surged through his body, and he could feel the blocks on his senses being loosened.  
  
"... id it... you did it Jack!" Keela's voice was a welcome break from the omnipresent silence that he'd known before. He kept his eyes closed as he stood, turning around with the sword in front of him and opening his eyes. The Scion was glaring at him in a rage, his hands pulsing with deadly crimson energy.  
  
"It's the end for you." Jack hefted the blade in front of him, feeling its power pulsing through his body as never before.  
  
[I've beaten you once with that sword warrior, I will do it again!] The Scion raised one hand, sending several shadows leaping from the ground right at the samurai. Jack leapt forward without hesitation, the enchanted blade tearing through the shadows without difficulty. The battle was fast and heavy, as the samurai was forced to dodge attacks from all sides.  
  
Finally Jack tore from the pack of shadows and leapt at the Scion, the blade clutched at his side as a furious yell erupted from his throat. The Scion raised one clawed hand, crimson power surging out from it in a magnificent wave. Jack swung the blade in a wide arc, the sword colliding with the crimson energy with a crack, as if thunder had made its way underground.  
  
For a few moments Jack hung suspended in midair, the pearl white power of his blade mingling in his body with the crimson strands of the Scions own power. Finally the power detonated between the Scion and the samurai, sending Jack hurtling back to the other side of the room, putting the shadow soldiers between them once again.  
  
[You will fall again samurai, and this time, I will kill you where you stand!] The Scion shrieked, his claws pulsing with power.  
  
"I never make the same mistakes twice. You will not defeat me again!" Jack exclaimed, leaping forward. He tore one shadow in half with his blade, kicking back and using a third as a jumping stool, flying over the heads of the rest. The Scion let another surge of crimson power surge toward the samurai. The blade came up in a wide arc, batting the surge aside and dissipating it instead of colliding this time.  
  
The Scion didn't have time to move out of the way. Jack came down with the fatal blow, the sword slicing through the dark form of its body as easily as if it wasn't there. The Scion gave a mental gasp of shock, stumbling back into the wall, glaring at Jack hatefully.  
  
[Well played... samurai...] The Scions eyes narrowed as it studied Jack. [Learning from your failures... so that is your secret... you adapt.]  
  
"Yes." Jack replied simply. "Good has the ability to adapt to tricks, while evil knows only one set of tricks... easily overcome with study." He brought the blade over his head, staring at the Scion steadily. Without another word he brought eh blade down, cutting the Scion clean in half. The Scion gave no scream or shriek, simply closing its eyes and looking up, letting itself be pulled into the shadows around it as though it never existed.  
  
"Jack... you did it... and you're alive..." Keela said, her eyes brimming with tears that had been held in since she'd found he was alive. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him. "And we did it... we destroyed all four Scions!" She exclaimed.  
  
"Yes... but it's not over." Jack replied, staring down at her. "Aku still remains... and the time has come for me to find him and end this... once and for all." His eyes didn't betray any hint of emotion as he stared into Keela's. She seemed disturbed by this, but she said nothing. His only goal now was to destroy Aku, and that he would, no matter what he had to do.  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The wind blew through the small city, now freed from the Scions hand but still feeling its influence. Jack stood on a small hill, looking down at a spot on the ground whose only piece of decoration seemed to be a small headstone. On it read the words "The Scions last victim: Reggoth".  
  
"Rest well, I will destroy Aku soon, and then I will set all of this right." The samurai said, before he turned to head back to the ship. He didn't waste any time with mourning, no matter how his heart felt. Time wasn't on his side, if Aku heard all of his Scions were gone, he may try to run from Earth, where Jack would likely never find him.  
  
"Jack... I..." Keela began as he passed, but he didn't look at her. She stared after him steadily, then followed. Sarah followed the both of them a ways behind, not wanted to come between them. Jack only knew his journey would finally come to a close very soon, and his destiny would at last be fulfilled.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	6. End of the Line

Part 6: End of the Line  
  
How long had Jack been in space? He couldn't remember anymore. Time seemed to stand still when one was floating among the stars. Despite this he knew that his time was drawing near... the time when the final truth would be decided. They were close to Earth now, less than a few hours' travel. Keela manned the pilot's seat while Jack sat idly in the co-pilot's seat. Sarah was in the back tossing around her dagger.  
  
"Jack, we're running out of time together." Keela said softly. Jack looked over at her.  
  
"I know. We will find Aku soon, and then I can set everything right again." Jack fingered the pommel of his sword with one hand. "I can go back home, and destroy him before any of this ever happened."  
  
"I don't want you to go..." Keela shook her head and closed her eyes. "I know I'm not an emotional person but we don't have much time left and... and I..." she stuttered. Suddenly the radar on the control panel started beeping, with two small blips moving toward the center. She cleared her throat and composed herself as she examined the radar. "Two objects coming at us from Earth. They look like mechanical insects..."  
  
"Aku's favorite kind of minion," Jack noted. "He knows we are coming. We have to break through." Sarah put her dagger away and moved up front with them.  
  
"This is a freighter, not a fighter. We don't stand a chance against Aku's attack drones," Sarah told him.  
  
"We have no choice. We cannot turn back now." Jack stared out the front window, where the drones were coming into view. Keela exchanged a swift glance with Sarah before turning back to the controls.  
  
"Readying weapons." She flipped a few switches and took tight hold of the stick. "Hold on to something guys, this won't be pretty," she told them as she punched the ship's thrusters up to full power. Jack and Sarah sat down in their respective seats, buckling their seatbelts.  
  
The freighter charged at the two insect drones like a bull. They opened fire, pelting the freighter's thick armor with dents and small punctures, but it kept coming until they were forced to either move or get smashed against the window. The freighter's side cannons opened fie as they passed the drones. The lasers broke through the drones' thin exterior, blowing them up in only a few seconds.  
  
"That was pretty easy," Sarah noted.  
  
"Aku's drones never attack in small numbers." Jack told her solemnly. Indeed, he proved to be right. An entire fleet of bug like drones sat between them and earth, their weapons all powering up for the charge on the freighter.  
  
Keela growled under her breath. "Okay, let's do this." She pushed the engines up to full power again, opening fire on the drones with the forward guns. They managed to take out a few, but the vast majority had time to fully charge their weapons before darting forward and letting loose with volleys of their own. Suddenly something slammed into the back of the freighter, giving them enough of a speed boost to dart between the laser fire.  
  
A familiar helmet appeared on the small intercom screen. "Don't just sit there, get moving!" Samus ordered them.  
  
"Samus? You're helping us?" Keela said confusedly.  
  
"We're on our way." Jack replied before turning to Keela. "We should move as fast as we can." Keela nodded and took them through the throng of drones. Now most of them had turned their attention to Samus' fighter, which was far better equipped for combat than their freighter. Samus whirled in space, dodging the laser fire and taking out the drones like a shooting gallery.  
  
The freighter made it halfway there before many drones broke off from the main pack and came after them, firing at their rear engines. The freighter rocked violently, throwing its three occupants around in their seatbelts. Keela's fingers flew across the control panel, sending them hurtling straight toward Earth at full speed.  
  
The lasers slammed into the back of the freighter, threatening to tear the entire thing apart. The outside of the ship began to glow red as they entered the Earth's atmosphere, plummeting like a falling star toward the thick gray rain clouds beneath them. The drones tried to continue their pursuit, but they broke up in the heat of reentry and disintegrated into small particles.  
  
"Pull up!" Sarah screamed. Keela's fingers moved faster than ever across the control panel. The freighter's nose pulled away from the ground, but the ship continued its rapid descent regardless of their angle.  
  
"It's too damaged! We're going down!" Keela exclaimed. Suddenly another barrage of laser fire dotted the roof of the ship. Some shots plunged straight through the ships thick armor, hitting the floor of the ship. The lasers that missed slammed into the desert below them, gouging huge holes in it like a deadly hailstorm.  
  
Their descent brought them beneath the clouds, where a light rain was falling across the normally barren desert. Keela tried to keep them steady, but the laser fire combined with the added weight of the water rushing in through the hole-filled roof sent them hurtling toward the ground even faster. "Everyone brace for impact!" Keela screamed.  
  
The freighter hit the ground like a boulder, tossing up the rain soaked sand in sheets and sliding across the slick surface for several dozen feet before finally gliding to a stop. Its occupants were severely jostled and dazed by the landing, but the interior of the ship was relatively undamaged save for the water pouring in through the roof.  
  
"Safe on the ground..." Sarah smiled. Her smile faded however when she heard metallic steps on top of the ship. The drones were coming to make sure the job was finished.  
  
"You both stay here," Jack whispered. Jack stood and drew his sword, moving cautiously into the middle of the ship. He could see the shadow of the drone as it moved on the top of the ship, tapping it as if listening for them to respond. The samurai moved underneath it and slashed upward. The strike cut the roof in half, bringing the drone plunging down to the floor.  
  
Another swift slice cut the drone in half with no difficulty. He turned toward the girls, who were watching him silently. "We have to leave before more come looking." The girls both nodded and stood up.  
  
They pried the door open and took off running across the damp desert floor. They held hands to move as fast as possible, Jack holding Keela's, and Keela holding Sarah's. They could see crimson laser fire erupting far above them in the clouds, along with bursts of fire from the engines underneath Samus' ship. A city loomed over the horizon, so close they could see inside the topmost window of the nearest building.  
  
They came to a halt when several drones landed on four spider-like legs in front of them, pointing laser cannons at the three of them. Jack let go of Keela's hand and drew his sword, lunging forward without a word. Crimson laser fire erupted around him, burning into the damp sand and tearing through Jack's robe, but he managed to avoid getting caught by any himself.  
  
His blade sliced two drones in half, but still more landed around him. He dodged more fire and cut through several drones, but more still crowded around him as the swarm realized where he was. He fought valiantly, but for a moment it looked like he would be swamped through sheer numbers.  
  
An explosion rocked the desert as drones went flying into pieces. Samus' ship hovered close to the ground, detonating several more with the heat of the quad engines that kept it afloat. A claw-like appendage lowered from the bottom, crushing another drone and waiting.  
  
"Come on! Get to the ship!" Jack cut his way through the crowd of drones as fast as he could. Thankfully the drones were intent on him, so Keela and Sarah were able to reach the ship and climb into the large claw without incident. Jack cut through two more drones with horizontal slice and leapt off one of their bottom halves, landing on top of the claw with a grunt.  
  
The ship lifted instantly, letting loose with a volley of fire from its turret as it took off through the sky. Jack clung to the arm that connected the claw to the ship itself while Sarah and Keela sat huddled in the claw itself. The drones started to give chase, but Samus' ship was designed to catch up to any ship in the galaxy. They were easily outdistanced.  
  
Jack climbed up the arm and managed to make his way onto the roof of the ship, where the top opened and a panel rose up from the inside. He moved onto it and it lowered again, carrying him into the ship while the roof closed again.  
  
"You should be more careful samurai. Especially here." Samus looked back at him, though she was still piloting the ship at the same time.  
  
"I thank you for your assistance." Jack bowed his head graciously. "But how did you know what ship we were on? How did you know we were here at all?"  
  
"I have my methods," Samus replied. "It's my job to be able to track people down. You're no different." She turned back to the screen as they glided down toward a small village made up of wooden huts and tents. "I believe this would be a safe place to set down and plan our next move."  
  
"Our next move?" Jack walked up to stand behind her. "You are going to help us fight Aku?"  
  
"You're a hard man to forget, Jack." Samus didn't look at him as she spoke. "Let's just leave it at that." She moved close to the ground to let Keela and Sarah climb out of the ship's claw before she retracted it and set the ship down near the village.  
  
Soon Jack, Samus, Keela and Sarah were sitting around a small but cozy cottage, paid for by part of what appeared to be Samus' small fortune. Keela sat on a stool next to a thick wooden table. Sarah sat next to her, with Jack sitting on the other side of them. Samus was standing with her back against the wall, and her helmet held underneath one arm.  
  
"Do we have any idea where to even begin looking for Aku?" Keela asked.  
  
"He obviously knows you're here." Samus chimed in. "It would be best to find him as fast as possible and put an end to this. My ship's sensors can locate his energy signature pretty easily."  
  
"Then our next move is decided." Jack announced.  
  
"Hold on a minute." Keela put one hand on Jack's arm to get his attention. "Jack, I don't know what happened between you two on Tarsonis, but she's still a bounty hunter. She could hand you in to Aku at any time."  
  
"What's the matter, jealous?" Samus smirked. Keela growled and began to get to her feet, but Jack held her down with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm the only way he will ever find Aku within his lifetime, and he knows it. Even if he doesn't completely trust me, he can't afford to refuse what I'm offering him."  
  
"I will just have to hope that your word is as good as your skills." Jack stood up, fingering his sword. "But I will not fail in my mission, no matter what I have to do." He narrowed his eyes meaningfully. A tense silence filled the air, thick enough to slice through with his sword.  
  
Samus stood up straight. "Well, it's late and we have much to do tomorrow. I believe I will turn in for the night." She gave a courteous bow and left the room, leaving Jack, Keela, and Sarah alone.  
  
"I have a very bad feeling..." Sarah spoke for the first time since arriving on the planet.  
  
"We can find another way Jack." Keela turned toward him, gripping his shoulders tightly. "We can find him ourselves, we don't need her. It's too dangerous."  
  
"We must end this now, before Aku finds a way to thwart me again." Jack stared into her eyes defiantly. "This must end."  
  
Sarah stood up, running one hand through her hair. "I think I'm going to bed too... it's been a long journey." She turned and left, leaving Jack and Keela facing off in the little light given off from the candle on the table and the soft pitter-pat of raindrops on the roof.  
  
"Jack you've been so intent on this. I think you're being blinded by this desire to kill Aku. Are you sure it's justice you're looking for? Or revenge?" Keela asked. Jack clenched his fists for a moment, then relaxed and took a deep breath, never taking his eyes away from hers.  
  
"Justice must be done." Jack said.  
  
"Not at any cost." Keela grabbed his hand, holding it in both of hers. "Not... not at the cost of your life." Jack's gaze softened when Keela's grew wet with unshed tears. "I lost one hero, Jack... I don't know what would happen to me if... if I lost another." She closed her eyes and turned away from him, running her fingers over the wooden table.  
  
Jack looked down at the table, unsure what to do. He had faced countless opponents in fights to the death, survived the vacuum of space, and journeyed halfway across the world. But he didn't know how to handle this.  
  
"I am no hero." Jack said when he finally found the words. "I will not be until I can rescue my family and my people..." he looked over at her. She was staring at him with wet eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "If I quit now... if I turned away and left with you to some far away land... I would be nothing but a traitor. I will live with my people again... or I will die with them."  
  
"Then I suppose... there's nothing more I can do here," Keela said as she stood, wiping her eyes on one sleeve. Jack stood up with her, reaching out to her. She batted his arm away and moved toward the door. "Good luck on your mission samurai... I hope you succeed." She walked out into the darkness.  
  
Jack walked toward the door, staring out into the moonless night. She was walking toward the edge of town. She was really serious about leaving. Jack was about to call out to her, but then thought better of it. She had made her decision, and for him, there was no decision to make. He had to fight. So he turned and walked back into the building to rest for the coming morning.  
  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
The next morning Jack, Samus, and Sarah gathered near Samus' ship to discuss their final plans. Neither Samus nor Sarah asked where Keela was. Apparently word of mouth spread quickly in a small town like this. Everyone knew she had left in the night. Some gave Jack curious or disgusted looks, but he ignored them by concentrating on the task at hand.  
  
"I've pinpointed Aku's location to a volcano fifty miles south of here." Samus was again wearing her helmet, which distorted her voice but still left it audible. "But there's a whole lot of resistance between us and him. It's almost like someone snuck out in the night to tell Aku where we are..." Samus' voice trailed off, leaving the accusation clear in the air.  
  
"You take that back," Sarah growled darkly. Jack put one hand on her shoulder to calm her down.  
  
"Regardless of what we face, we will find Aku today. This will all be over by nightfall. One way or another," Jack swore softly. Samus nodded and moved back to gesture to her ship.  
  
"Then let's get going, we don't want to keep destiny waiting," Samus said. Jack walked toward it, but Sarah started to follow. He reached down and grabbed her shoulder, kneeling down in front of her.  
  
"Stay here. I will return soon."  
  
"But I'm part of this too." Sarah said calmly. She seemed wise beyond her years, but he knew she was still a child underneath it all.  
  
"This is something I must do alone. It is my duty to destroy Aku, no one else's." He smiled and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I will do it for you, your parents, Keela, and everyone Aku has hurt." Sarah's eyes narrowed, but she nodded and took a step back, lowering her head to her chest. Jack stood and climbed on top of the ship with Samus.  
  
They were lowered into the ship and Samus took the controls, firing up the engines. They roared as the ship rose into the air, flying through the air toward the south. They had been flying only a few minutes when several dozen of Aku's aerial drones took off from the ground toward them. "He's becoming desperate," Samus noted.  
  
"He knows he cannot escape me now." Jack watched the drones approach. Samus took the ship into an evasive spin, rolling through the crowd of drones like a bird through the clouds. Jack clung to his seat and watched the drones open fire on them. Not one laser struck the ship thanks to Samus' superior ship and flight skills.  
  
The ship's lasers carved a nice path through the drones as the volcano hove into view over the horizon. They were getting very close now, he could practically feel Aku's presence. Samus steadied the ship and waved at Jack. That was his signal to move.  
  
He stood and raced to the platform in the back, which normally rose to allow exit from the ship. The top hatch opened, and the platform sprang up, shooting Jack into the air amid the swarm of drones. His enchanted blade sliced through them easily as he fell through the air.  
  
He whirled his blade around and buried it into the volcano's side, slowing his descent toward a cavern Samus' scanners had picked up from the village. He swung inside and landed on one knee, hunched over on the ground. He deftly slid his sword back into its scabbard, keeping one hand on its hilt.  
  
He ran down the cavern, leaving Samus outside to deal with Aku's drones. He made his way through a seemingly endless maze of caverns, feeling Aku's presence somewhere within this mountain. He was closer than ever. Jack could barely believe it, but it seemed his journey was almost over.  
  
He skidded to a stop at a gigantic pool of lava with four platform suspended over it by ropes hanging from the ceiling. Undaunted, Jack leapt across to the first platform, landing in a crouch. To his surprise the platform began to lower toward the lava, pulling the third platform upward. They were on a pulley weight system, with this first one and the third one connected, which meant the second and forth would be connected as well.  
  
He was more than halfway down before his platform stopped, and began to rise again. Jack drew his blade slowly, waiting to see what had landed on the third platform. His eyes went wide when he saw a shadow standing on the platform with glowing red eyes. It looked suspiciously like a fifth scion, but it was so small that it looked like a child. The platforms stopped moving when he and the scion were on an equal level.  
  
[Welcome samurai.] The voice echoed in his mind, removing all doubt that this was indeed a fifth scion. [I am the Scion of Spirit. Aku's newest creation, and strongest. In fact, he made me especially for you.]  
  
"I would be honored if you weren't evil." Jack quipped. "Stand aside, I have nothing against you. I would rather see your master."  
  
[You must face me first.] The scion lowered itself to a crouch on the platform. [Are you ready to face me, samurai?]  
  
"I will do whatever I must." Jack lowered himself to a crouch, facing the scion. They both leapt at the same time, hurtling toward each other. Jack raised his magical blade to cleave the scion in two, but he saw his father coming toard him with wide, fearful eyes.  
  
"No son... don't!" He screamed. Jack hesitated in surprise. This was enough for the image to swipe him across the stomach and sending him falling to the second platform while the scion landed on the first. Both platforms began to fall toward the lava below, since neither was weighted on the other end. Jack rolled to his feet and leapt for the third platform. He plunged his sword into the side and flipped up to the top, bringing its ascent to a stop and lowering it so that it was level with the first platform, which the scion was on.  
  
"Dirty tricks." Jack whirled on the scion angrily, but instead he saw his mother standing there, holding a little boy in her hands. "This... this can't be... the sword protects me from the scion's powers..."  
  
"Jack, is something wrong?" His mother said. She wasn't looking at Jack however, instead she was stroking the boy in her arms' head. The boy was crying into her kimono, clutching at her sadly. "Don't worry, it'll be okay... as long as we don't depend on you." Her voice was still soothing, but her words stung Jack deeply. Suddenly he heard a yell from the small gaps in the walls where a person could stand.  
  
Jack whirled to see his people screaming and cursing at him angrily. Some shouted curses, still others asked why he had abandoned them. "This is all a trick..." Jack whirled, but wherever he looked they were there, screaming in pain and anger over his betrayal. "None of this is real... the scion's doing this..." Jack reminded himself.  
  
"But you said yourself the scion's power cannot harm you." Jack whirled back toward the first platform, where Keela was staring at him coldly. "But your sword doesn't make you immune to your own memories. Your own fears... it doesn't make you immune to the truth." Jack whirled, seeing friends he knew from childhood, men he'd grown to respect. Everyone he'd ever known was there, accusing him of some betrayal.  
  
"None of this is real... I'm fighting for them! I will fulfill my promise!" Jack exclaimed.  
  
"Like your promise to me?" Keela asked. Jack stared at her in confusion. "You swore you would protect me Jack... you swore you would be my hero." She lowered her face and turned away from him. Jack's heart skipped a beat and he took a step forward.  
  
"I meant it... I will protect you..." Jack promised once again.  
  
"It's too late!" Keela whirled on him again. Her body was scratched and bruised beyond recognition. Her face was a mess of blood and bruises. "This is your protection Jack! You failed! You couldn't protect me! Like you couldn't protect them!" She gestured to the angrily screaming people on either side of them. Keela stepped back toward the edge of the platform. "You couldn't protect me from this... and you can't protect me now." She let herself lean back over the pit of lava, falling backward and plummeting down toward it.  
  
"No!" Jack moved to leap after her, but stopped himself. He didn't know why he stopped, he simply did. He could only watch as her body plunged downward, still as bruised and broken as ever until it finally plunged into the lava. It vanished instantly underneath the white-hot surface, leaving no trace of her to be seen.  
  
"No... it's... impossible..." Jack knelt in despair, but something in the back of his mind registered something peculiar. He was on a platform on a pulley system, and the person on the other end of it just jumped off. So why wasn't his platform plummeting toward the lava as well?  
  
He looked up slowly, not wanting to see that she was really gone, but unable to do anything different now. He saw the Scion of spirit standing on the other platform, watching him with those glowing red eyes. The people around them had vanished. It was all an illusion... it was all a trick. Jack pushed himself to his feet, clutching his sword in his hands.  
  
"Your... tricks won't work on me... scion." Jack growled for the first time he could remember. True hatred sprang into his mind, hatred for what he had been put through. "Your illusions mean nothing. Now fight me!"  
  
[Illusions?] The scion's eyes seemed to gleam humorously. [You don't seem to understand samurai. Everything you saw is a true memory. Not necessarily yours, but a memory nonetheless.] Jack stared at the scion, uncomprehending. [After so many years of hardship, your people began to hate you. They cursed your name, the name of the coward who abandoned them. This, Aku remembers.]  
  
"That won't be so... I will go back to them," Jack replied.  
  
[And poor, precious Keela?] The scion narrowed its eyes. [Let's just say the reality is actually worse than the fantasy.] Jack growled and threw himself across the platforms at the scion. He landed in front of the scion and opened with a huge slash, but the scion dodged out of the way like a shadow. The platform they were on plummeted toward the lava, weighted down by two people instead of one.  
  
Jack whirled on the scion again, only to be blocked by a sword wielded by his father. Now he was wise to the scion's tricks, so he pressed the attack anyway. Steel flashed against steel, and each samurai dodged the advances of the other skillfully. The intense heat began to get to Jack as they plummeted closer and closer to the lava flow below.  
  
Eventually the platform slammed to a stop as it reached the end of its rope. Jack and the scion were thrown to the ground as it jerked, threatening to throw them both into the lava. The heat was unbearable now that they were only a few feet away from the lava.  
  
Jack and the scion stumbled to their feet and began their battle again. Strike after strike, and neither could gain an advantage over the other. The scion didn't seem to feel the heat however, so Jack was tired out much more quickly. The scion kicked him to the ground and stood over him with a victorious grin on its face.  
  
"Almost, son." The face of his father said grimly. "But like I said so long ago. You are still a disgrace to this family." He raised his sword, preparing to cut Jack in half.  
  
"You're not part of this family..." Jack rolled forward underneath the scion's legs and jammed his sword backward into the scion's lower back. It stumbled with a surprised cry as it reverted back into its shadowy form. Jack yanked his blade out and leapt up, grabbing onto the rope that held the platform suspended above the lava.  
  
[Your people are gone samurai, and your girlfriend is gone as well. You have nothing left... if you face Aku, you won't even have your life.] The Scion of spirit taunted him even as it fell to its knees.  
  
"I'll risk it." He slashed at the main rope above the four support ropes, cutting through it easily. Jack was yanked upward thanks to the weight of the second platform, but the scion was dropped into the lava flow below before it could die from its fatal wound.  
  
The scion's mental cries of agony rang through his head the entire way up. When he reached the top of the cavern he swung and threw himself at the far exit, landing heavily in a crouch with one hand on the ground and the other clutching his sword. The scion's screams finally died out as he stood from the ground and slid his sword back into its scabbard.  
  
He took a moment to compose himself before continuing through the cavernous maze. Eventually he found himself standing in front of a huge cave whose walls were glowing with molten energy. It looked so much like the lair Jack remembered from so long ago, he knew this had to be it. He took a step forward, but something struck him from behind, sending a wave of blinding cold through him.  
  
He fell to the ground, shivering with his torso trapped inside a giant ice cube. He looked up wearily to see Samus standing over him. Her arm cannon was glowing blue before it shifted back into its normal configuration. "You... betrayed... me..." Jack stuttered. He didn't get any response except a swift kick to the face, and the peaceful bliss of darkness.  
  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
He woke with a start some time later, surprised to find himself being dragged through the cavernous maze. He tried to move, but some kind of energy barrier kept him from moving his arms. He looked up to see Samus dragging him along by the barrier.  
  
"You betrayed me... why? You said you didn't want to take away humanities last hope..." Jack demanded.  
  
"I lied." Samus looked down at him as she walked. "If Aku died, someone else would take his place. Maybe a human, maybe an alien. But your version of 'hope' is merely a dream. The only hope in this universe is the hope of getting everything you need to lead a prosperous life."  
  
"But why the deception... why did you pretend to be an ally? Why not take me back on Tarsonis?"  
  
"I think that should be obvious." Samus turned to look ahead again, as though avoiding his gaze. "I let you go because I wanted you to kill the scions before I brought you in. I realized that the price on your head doubled every time you killed a scion, so I let you go on to kill them all. I've been tailing you since you left Tarsonis. Now you're worth more than every job I've ever taken put together."  
  
Jack sighed and closed his eyes, knowing that argument would be useless. Samus had completely given up hope on humanity. So much so that she saw nothing wrong with sacrificing it for herself.  
  
He looked up when they emerged into an even bigger cavern than before. It was like a huge domed coliseum. Aku sat on a hideously misshapen throne set against the far wall, eyeing him with eagerness plain on his face. Samus dragged the samurai forward and threw him on the ground, staring up at Aku. "I brought you your samurai, now where's the money you promised me?"  
  
"Very good bounty hunter. I should have known better than to doubt you." Aku grinned and reached behind his throne to pull out a large bag. "Ten billion, in cash." He threw the bag down at Samus' feet. The bounty hunter stooped to pick up the bag, hefting it up over her shoulder. "I'll remember to call you again if any more... pests, pop up."  
  
"You do that." Samus turned to leave, carrying the bag with her like she was making a simple withdrawal from a bank. Jack managed to squirm to his knees, staring up at Aku defiantly.  
  
"Samurai Jack." Aku lifted himself from his throne, moving to stand over the comparatively tiny samurai. "It appears that our rivalry has at last come to an end." Aku grinned. "And I can see that you have suffered much in my world... my universe."  
  
"If you kill me, someone else will rise up to defeat you." Jack managed to rise to his feet despite his arms being bound by the energy chain. "Righteousness can never be destroyed by evil."  
  
"Kill you... I will get to that." Aku grabbed him in one giant hand and lifted him off the ground, staring at him victoriously. "Without your sword, you are completely powerless against me."  
  
"I will never quit." Jack didn't struggle or fight. He simply stared at Aku with a look of defiance on his face. "You will never win."  
  
"I think I already have." Aku laughed and squeezed the samurai like a tub of toothpaste. Jack grunted as his bones were slowly crushed together inside his body. The pain was excruciating, but he would never scream.  
  
"Where... is... Keela..." Jack stuttered. Aku stopped and stared at him in surprise. "Your... scion... said you... remembered her... where is she?" Jack asked weakly. Aku grinned again and turned toward the opposite wall. Jack blinked to focus his eyes as a figure came into focus, attached to the wall by more energy bonds. Her body and face were identical to the one portrayed by the Scion of Spirit. "Keela!"  
  
"Insurance, brought to me by the bounty hunter Samus Aran." Aku laughed again at the look of shock on Aku's face. "She played you like a musical instrument. It's so satisfying to know that after all your days of fighting against me, it was someone you trusted who turned against you." Aku let out another barking laugh, throwing his head back.  
  
"You made one mistake Aku..." Jack said softly. Aku looked down at him, but realized his mistake too late. Squeezing Jack had also crushed the energy chains, freeing the samurai's arms. He leapt from Aku's loose palm and rolled on the ground, darting for his sword on the other side of the room. Aku melted into a shadow on the ground and sped ahead of him, reshaping into a massive python.  
  
Jack leapt in the air as the python struck, flying right beneath him. Jack leapt off of its head with one foot and lunged for his enchanted blade. He grasped it and yanked it out of the wall, rolling to a fighting stance facing the evil sorcerer.  
  
"Are you still so brave?" Jack asked, stepping forward and waving his sword threateningly. "Let us finish this Aku. Once and for all!" Jack leapt at the python, bringing his sword back to cleave the creature in half. Aku melted into a shadow again, melting into the ground underneath the samurai. "What!? You're not escaping this time!" Jack yelled.  
  
"No, I'm not!" Aku yelled back defiantly as the ground underneath the samurai burst upward. Jack was thrown forward hard, rolling on the ground until he finally stopped himself. He whirled with his blade ready, but stopped in surprise when he saw a creature made of the rocks themselves. Two shadowy eyes stared at him from just above the top boulder. "In so many years, I too have learned new tricks samurai."  
  
"They will not save you!" Jack shouted back. Aku lurched forward, swinging one boulder the size of Jack's body at him. Jack leapt straight up and jumped on it, using it as a springboard to launch himself at Aku's face. Aku brought his other stony fist around to send Jack sailing back to the ground. Jack lurched to his feet, clutching his blade before him.  
  
He waited until Aku struck again, but this time jumped to the side and launched forward. He cut his magical blade up Aku's entire arm until he reached the head, lopping off the top boulder with one swift swing. The stones tumbled to the ground in a heap, but the shadow that was Aku crept away along the ground to reform yet again into a giant shadowy spider.  
  
Aku opened his massive mandibles and lunged forward, lashing out with four of his six legs. Jack leapt back, letting them tear into the solid rock ground and lopping them off one by one. The spider opened its mandibles again and launched a glod of liquid at the samurai from its mouth. It splattered over Jack's left arm, burning through his skin like acid.  
  
"AAAGH!" Jack fell to his knees, clutching his arm painfully as the stomach acid melted his sleeve and arm alike. He looked in time to spot the spider lunging again, this time to devour him. Jack rolled along the ground, lashing out with his sword to slice off the spider's mandibles. Aku screamed in pain and jumped backward, reforming into his normal self. One hand was missing.  
  
Jack lurched to his feet, ignoring the burning in his limp left arm. Jack and Aku faced off again for a few moments before Aku again shifted. This time a lizard-like creature leapt at him with a horrendous high-pitched shriek. Jack whirled out of its way, but it was remarkably agile. It whirled the second it hit the ground and snapped at him with powerful jaws.  
  
Jack jumped back and slashed expertly with his sword, missing its head by mere inches. The lizard jumped forward and clamped down on his wrists tightly, shaking him as though trying to tear it right off. Jack rolled to his back and pummeled the creature's face with his wooden sandals, trying to make it let go. Finally Aku had enough punishment and backed off, letting Jack roll to his feet. He was still clutching the magic blade in his bloody hand.  
  
Aku shifted yet again, into a sinuous snakelike creature with massive wings sprouting from its back. Aku lifted his mighty head in the air and let out a defiant shriek. A blast of fire scorched the ceiling as Aku yelled, and it died down when he stopped. Aku looked down at him victoriously, as though victory was already decided.  
  
Jack leapt up as high as he could, raising the magical blade over his head and screaming defiantly. Aku opened his mouth and let loose a blast of red-hot fire right at the samurai. Jack brought his blade forward and cut through the fire. The flames split on impact with his sword, instead burning the air around him without ever touching the warrior.  
  
Jack continued on toward Aku's head, but the dragon moved away from him and brought its massive whip-like tail around. It slammed into Jack and sent him flying against the wall with a thunderous crash. The warrior fell back to the ground, his sword lying just within arms reach.  
  
"And here it ends, samurai." Dragon/Aku taunted him. He stomped toward Jack at a leisurely pace. Flames licked at his mouth as though eager to burst forth and cook the samurai. Aku lowered its head down to the samurai, opening his mouth and taking a deep breath.  
  
"Yes... here it ends!" Jack grabbed his sword and lunged forward into Aku's mouth just as the flamed came up the dragon's throat. He slashed with the sword, again splitting the flames, but this time they had nothing to burn except the inside of Aku's mouth. They also surged back down inside his throat, cooking him alive from the inside out.  
  
Aku let out a scream of pure pain, throwing his head around in an attempt to put out the flames. Jack was thrown to the ground as the dragon thrashed. Aku stumbled and slammed into the wall where Keela was hanging. "No, Keela!" Jack jumped to his feet. The wall cracked and the chains broke. Keela fell to the cold stone ground, still unconscious.  
  
Aku shifted back into his normal form at a human size, groaning from pain and holding his stomach. "It... still... burns..." Smoke issued forth from his mouth as he spoke. Jack moved toward him, lifting the blade in front of him.  
  
"It's time to pay for your crimes Aku," Jack said as he moved close to the sorcerer. Aku scrambled back away from the samurai, trying to get away. Apparently his insides were hurting too badly for him to accomplish a shape shift.  
  
"I will never be defeated..." Aku lurched toward Keela and lifted her off the ground, holding her in front of him like a shield. "Leave me be samurai, or the girl suffers."  
  
"You soulless coward! Face me!" Jack demanded. The commotion apparently was enough to rouse Keela from her unconsciousness. She opened one swollen eye and looked at Jack. She was shaking from the severity of her injuries. He doubted she would survive long without some sort of assistance, even if he defeated Aku here and now.  
  
"Jack... I'm sorry..." Keela cried softly. "I'm so sorry... please... fix everything... undo it all..." She whispered. Aku grabbed her neck and twisted it painfully to the side. She let out a cry of pain. "Agh!"  
  
"You can't get to me without going through her samurai. I don't think you have the guts to do it." Aku taunted him menacingly. Jack stared at her, his own eyes beginning to moisten. He knew what she was saying, but he didn't know if he could make himself listen.  
  
"Undo it..." Keela told him again through her sobs of pain and grief. Aku lifted her from the ground, his hand wrapped around her throat. She gargled and struggled for breath, too weak to fight back.  
  
"RAAAAGH!" Jack lunged suddenly, thrusting the blade forward. It went straight through both Keela and Aku, impaling them both against the back wall. Keela gasped, her eyes going wide. Aku groaned and looked down, an expression of utter shock on his face. "Go to Hell sorcerer... and stay there for eternity!" Jack screamed.  
  
Aku didn't have the strength to respond before his form began to melt away. Like a shadow it twisted against the wall and fell to the ground, where it eventually vanished altogether. It happened quickly, but it seemed to take forever before the shadow had completely faded into little more than a memory.  
  
When it was gone Jack carefully pulled the sword out of the wall. Keels stumbled as he pulled it out of her, falling against him weakly. "Keela... I swear... I will undo this... and everything else Aku has done..." Jack knelt down and laid Keela on the ground, putting her head in his lap.  
  
"I know... Jack..." Keela smiled slightly despite the blood beginning to come out of her mouth. "You'll never quit..." She raised one hand and gently stroked his cheek. "Don't ever... quit on me... samurai... Jack..." Her hand slowly fell to the ground as her body went limp on the cold stone ground. Jack closed his eyes and bowed over her, clutching her hand in his.  
  
"I swear by my sword... I will not fail you..." Jack opened his eyes and gently put two fingers on her eyelids, pulling them closed for the final time. He closed his eyes and stood up, turning away from her to head toward the exit. He stopped however when he felt something strange behind him. It was like a sudden surge of energy running through the room.  
  
He turned around and saw a portal of light on the ground where Aku had last lain. It looked just like the portal that brought him here. Vanquishing the sorcerer must have reversed the spell that brought him here in the first place... he could go home through this portal. For some reason though, this didn't lighten his spirits.  
  
He turned back to Keela's body one last time. He bowed deeply to her, bringing his hands up in front of his chest. Then he turned back to the portal, and finally after so long, went through it.  
  
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"Alright y'weak little moochers, it's time t'earn yer pay 'round here." Reggoth yelled at the crew of his brand new starship, the S.S. Aurora. His crew scrambled to haul the supplies on board faster while he supervised them with a smug smirk on his face. He'd worked for several years in the Earth Space Confederation to get this chance, he wasn't going to miss his launch time because of some lazy crew members.  
  
"Get the lead out already!" Reggoth screamed. They moved even faster until one of the tipped and fell to the ground, spilling the contents of several boxes to the floor. "Good God are y'stupid or something!? Pick 'em up!"  
  
"I'm sorry sir." The crew member smiled at him spologetically, then turned to glare at something on his other side. When the crew member finally gathered up his stuff and got on board Reggoth could see a little girl staring after him and waving happily. Of course, it had to be her.  
  
"Hey, this isn't a playground, g'find yer parents or somethin'!" Reggoth yelled at her. The girl stuck her tongue out at him and stomped up to him.  
  
"I was here before you!" She told him.  
  
"Well I'm bigger so up yer..." Reggoth was interrupted before he could finish.  
  
"Sarah, are you coming to dinner?" A lovely woman approached them with an equally handsome man on her shoulder. The little girl whirled and ran toward them excitedly.  
  
"I'm coming mom!" Sarah ran to her parents and leapt into their waiting arms, hugging them tightly. "On to the sushi!" She yelled excitedly. Her parents let out happy laughs and carried her away, leaving Reggoth staring after them with an expression of disgust on his face.  
  
"Useless little buggers..." He turned back to his crew and growled when he saw that several of them had tripped over the same spot on the ground as the last crew member. "Get yer Goddamned feet movin' or yer not comin' on my ship!"  
  
"Aye sir!" The crew hustled to load the ship with Reggoth watching irritably.  
  
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Samus Aran made her way through the thick jungle, pushing leaves and underbrush out of the way as she made her way toward her next bounty. She used her visor to make sure that she had the right target before leaping out of the bushes and grabbing the young man by the shoulder.  
  
"Hey, what!?" The kid leapt up and whirled, but Samus grabbed him again and pulled him close to her chest long enough to get him subdued.   
  
"You shouldn't be out here kid, bad things happen," Samus told him. The kid rolled his eyes and sighed resignedly.  
  
"Whatever..." He stopped struggling as Samus dragged him back through the forest toward a small cottage on top of a hillside. She put the kid on the porch as his mother came outside, glaring at the boy angrily.  
  
"How many times have I told you not to run off!?" She whapped him over the head and pulled him inside. "You worry me sick! One of these days you're going to meet your maker and I'm just going to laugh!" She sighed and came out onto the porch, smiling at Samus. "Thank you for finding him again... please, let me give you something."  
  
"Don't worry about it, lost loved ones are free." Samus replied.  
  
"Oh? But you're a bounty hunter, I thought you only did this for money." The woman said. Samus turned to look up at the stars shining overhead as she replied.  
  
"People are worth the effort." Samus started to walk off, adjusting the cannon on her arm as she went.  
  
"Well, thank you just the same. If you ever need anything please feel free to ask!" The woman called after her. Samus waved back at her over her shoulder on her way back to her ship, to continue with her never-ending adventure as the best intergalactic bounty hunter.  
  
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Keela lied on the couch alone, watching the light of the fireplace cast an orange glow over the rest of the room. She hugged herself against the growing chill of winter, waiting for her hero to return to her. She waited until it seemed as though it had become a futile effort, but finally the door opened and a man with strong shoulders and a kind smile entered.  
  
"Jonathan." Keela smiled and stood up, rushing to meet him with a passionate kiss. "You're late again."  
  
"I apologize, it turns out they were worse off than I knew before." He smiled and kissed her back with equal passion. "So, what's for dinner tonight love?" He asked.  
  
"Forget dinner for a while... it's so cold." Keela kissed him passionately again, pulling him back toward the couch. He moved with her, lying with her on the coiuch in front of the fireplace. A flash of orange light reflected from something on top of the fireplace, seeming to cover them both in its pale hue.  
  
On top of the fireplace sat a single object that had been passed down through Jonathan's family for many, many generations. It was said to be a symbol of great power and might, wielded only by one man in history. A man who vanquished a great evil, and brought peace to an entire planet.  
  
It was a sword with a shining silver blade as sharp as it had been on the day it was crafted. It was passed down from generation to generation, starting with one man. One warrior who had gone by only one name in all of his years.   
  
A samurai warrior named Jack.  
  
THE END 


End file.
